Could It Be?
by Brainyxbat
Summary: A father-daughter family moves in across the street from the Pickles house, next to the Carmichaels. The daughter changes Chuckie's life forever. The title is a song by Christy Carlson Romano.
1. Prologue: Meet The Tucks Pt 1

**(A/N: Phew! This is finally up! I meant to finish this long ago, but writer's block had other ideas. Enjoy this new story!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Prologue: Meet the Tucks Pt. 1

* * *

When 2-year-old Chuckie Finster woke up one day, it never occurred to him that what the day was going to offer will change his life forever, and a day. He and Chaz Finster were on their way to the Pickles house, where Chuckie was going to stay while Chaz would be at work. For the young redhead, it became a routine, basically; Same old, same old. But today was going to be different. _Very_ different. He was too busy wondering what adventures he'll have with 1-year-old Tommy Pickles, and 1 ¾-year-old twins Phil and Lil DeVille to see the commotion at the house next to where the Carmichaels resided.

Just before Chaz rang the doorbell, he heard the noise behind him. "What's going on back there?" He looked, and saw a U-Haul truck parked in front of the house, with furniture and boxes in the trailer; Some of the latter were in the grass. Chaz glanced down at his son. "Hey Chuckie, it looks like someone's moving in over there, next door to the Carmichaels." He then spied a box filled with baby toys. "Ooh, and it looks like they have a baby. Maybe they'll be a new friend for you and your friends."

Chuckie looked, and saw that he was right; He also saw what looked like pieces of a crib being lugged out by who he assumed was the driver. When he spotted a box on the sidewalk labeled "Baby Clothes" (he still can't read yet, so he didn't understand it), he was surprised at what, or _who,_ he saw next to it. A little girl, who couldn't be older than him, was grasping the edge with her tiny fingers. But she wasn't 100% human; She had light purplish-grey skin, black pointy ears near her scalp, and a round, black nose. For some reason, Chuckie couldn't take his eyes off of this girl; Her wild black hair seemed to frame her face, almost covering her large eyes. From where he stood, he couldn't tell what color they were; They looked blue or green to him. She was wearing a black t-shirt with a big white Saturn on the front, a green skirt that seemed to move a lot, white socks with black bows and ruffles, a purple bow headband in her hair, and black sneakers with white laces that dragged on the ground.

As Chaz talked to Stu and Didi Pickles, Chuckie watched the girl across the street. She hoisted herself up, revealing her black ruffled diaper cover, and fell in the box headfirst. He was afraid that she was hurt, but he faintly heard giggles. "What are you doing in there?" He heard an unfamiliar "grown-up" voice. A "grown-up" who looked like a badger dressed in what seemed to be from the Renaissance fair walked up to the box, and lifted her out. "You're a silly girl, Shenzi." He set her on her feet on the sidewalk, and ruffled her hair. Shenzi? That was an odd name. Chuckie never heard it before... at least he didn't think so. "You can play with the box after we settle in, okay?" With that, he continued to lug boxes and furniture in the house, with the truck driver assisting.

The toddler, apparently named Shenzi, gazed around the neighborhood she would call home. She wondered if there were any kids her age that she could play with living nearby. Her friends were in Florida, while she was all the way out here. When she looked across the street, she was surprised to see a boy who looked to be her age on the house porch. He had wild red hair, and pale peachy skin with freckles on his cheeks, although she couldn't see them very clearly. He was wearing purple square eyeglasses, a blue shirt with a yellow and red Saturn on the front, green cargo shorts, yellow socks, and red sneakers with white, untied laces. Now feeling intrigued, when he started walking in the house he was at, she started running up to him, but before she could go too far, she felt two strong hands gently grab her.

"Where do you think you're going?" Her daddy, Friar Tuck lifted her up in his arms. "You can't walk into the street like that, sweetheart. You could get seriously hurt." She stayed quiet, due to being quite timid, and not being able to talk just yet. "Come on, let's bring your stuff in."

Across the street, after entering the Pickles house, Chuckie was very surprised when the new girl tried to run up to him. He also wondered how anyone could get hurt from walking across the road. When inside, he was too busy viewing the house through the door window to hear what the adults were talking about. "Did you see the Carmichaels' new neighbors?" Stu asked Chaz.

"Yeah, Chuckie and I did just before we came in," Chaz replied, "And it seems they have a baby."

"I bet he or she will make a great new friend for the kids," Didi remarked, "We should invite them over for dinner, if they don't already have plans."

"That's a good idea, Deed," Stu agreed.

In the living room, Tommy and the twins overheard the adults talking. "Did you hear that, guys?" Tommy turned to Phil and Lil, "We have new neighbors!" They stood at the window, and peered at the house next to Susie's.

"You guys! You guys!" Chuckie dashed into the room after Chaz set him down. "Did you see the new peoples across the street?"

"We see them right now," Phil replied, not averting his gaze.

"Yeah," Lil turned to the redhead, "Come on!" She gestured for him to join them, and he jumped up between Tommy and Phil.

"What are those pointy things on her head, I wonder?" Chuckie remarked.

"I think they're her ears," Lil guessed.

"Naw, they're horns," Phil shook her head.

"They're ears, Philip!" She started an argument.

"Horns, Lillian!"

"Stu, can you keep an eye on the kids, so I can invite our new neighbors over for dinner later?" Didi requested as the twins quarreled.

"Sure thing," He complied, and sat near where the toddlers were gathered. "You kids fascinated by our new neighbors?" He asked them, but they didn't respond in any way. It was as if there was a television playing Reptar outside the window.

After grabbing a Jello mold out of the fridge, Didi carefully walked across the street, and arrived at the house. She gazed absentmindedly at the boxes as she tried to think of a way to start a conversation once she found the new neighbors. She smiled at the adorable baby clothes she briefly saw in one of the boxes; After seeing the dresses, frilly socks, and general femininity, she concluded that the baby was a girl. She snapped her gaze away from the boxes, and focused on finding the new residents.

Didi stopped at the open doorway, which led to the mostly empty living room. The kitchen was already furnished with a fridge, stove, oven, cupboards, and a table with 3 regular chairs, and one white and dark pink high chair, while the living room only had a small cupboard on the floor with a picture frame. "Hello? Anyone home?" She called out. "It's your new neighbor!" She was surprised to hear slightly squeaky footsteps, like Chuckie's, accompanied by a little girl who looked to be his age at least, gazing at the boxes in curiosity from across the room. She was a very cute child, especially with her long hair, large eyes, and long eyelashes. As the toddler wandered around the room, Didi knelt down to her level, being careful with the Jello mold. "Hello there." The child stopped dead in her tracks, and stared like there was a monster at the door. Basically, she looked shellshocked. "It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you. I'm your new neighbor, sweetie." The little girl stared for a couple more seconds, before she walked up to the box labeled "Baby Clothes". To Didi's surprise, she hoisted herself up, and fell in the box. "Oh, goodness!" She hoped that the toddler was alright, and not hurt.

"Again?" She heard a guy's voice, and saw who she guessed was the child's father walk in the room, and up to the box. He reached in with both hands, lifted her out, then set her on her feet. "We'll be done with this stuff soo..." He stopped when he saw the red-haired woman at the door. "Oh, hi."

"Hello," Didi greeted him, standing straight up, "I live across the street, and I thought I'd stop by, and welcome you to the neighborhood." As she explained, the toddler stared at her as she sucked on her knuckles, practically fluttering her eyelashes with every blink. She was going to be a man-stealer in her adolescence. "I'm Didi Pickles."

"Everyone calls me Friar Tuck," The child's father introduced himself, "I don't know if you've met my daughter, Shenzi." He glanced down at the toddler, who looked back up at him.

"I saw her fall in that box," Didi explained, "She's not hurt, is she?"

"She's fine," He assured her, "It's not the first time she's done that."

"Oh, alright." Didi then remembered why she came to the house. "I brought you this Jello mold, as a housewarming gift."

"Thanks," Friar Tuck smiled, "That looks great. You can just put that in the fridge."

The red-haired woman went and did just that, then walked back in the empty room. "Your daughter has beautiful eyes," She knelt to Shenzi's level, as the little girl stared. "Are they blue, or green? I can't really tell."

"They're both," He smirked, "She has heterochromia."

"Does she?" Didi was surprised. "I've never seen anything like it. Her mother must be a beautiful woman."

"She was," Friar Tuck smiled sadly. Shenzi's mother, Maya Tuck, had passed away when the former was just months old.

Didi caught on almost immediately. "Oh, I'm so sorry." She then decided to change the subject to one that was less depressing. "Um, you have a very nice house."

"Thanks. All I have to do is get everything else for the living room, and then I'll be done."

"When you're settled in, you think you can come over to my house for dinner? To properly welcome you to the neighborhood."

"Actually, that would be great," He accepted the offer.

"You can bring Shenzi along; I have a 1-year-old son, and I think he would make a great new friend for her."

"That sounds very nice; I'll bring her with me when I come over."

As the adults discussed, Shenzi felt intrigued; Were they talking about that redhead she saw earlier? Or was it someone else? Most likely the latter, because he didn't look like he was only a year old. Either way, she couldn't wait to meet him/her! "Alright, I'll let you and Shenzi get settled in. See you at dinner!"

"We'll be over there as soon as we can."

* * *

After a while, it had been at least an hour since the U-Haul truck left, and the Tuck house was completely furnished. Friar Tuck watched as Shenzi rolled a ball, so it bounced off the wall and rolled back to her, as if she was craving a playmate her age. He hoped that Didi's son would be a great friend for his little girl, as she predicted. Ever since they moved, she had that lonely look in her eyes, from being away from her former friends. Just then, he decided that it was time to go across the street. "Come on, Shen." He lifted his daughter up. "Let's go make some new friends." As she cooed and babbled, he exited the house, locking all the doors before doing so, and walked up to the Pickles residence.

He stopped at a light peach-colored house with 4 windows at the front, a tiny awning over the door, and a matching, flat roof with a satellite dish and weather vane on top, and a garage to his right. After he arrived, he rang the doorbell as Shenzi stayed quiet. After a second or two, Didi answered the door. "Oh, you're here! You're right on time! Come on in!" She stepped aside to let him walk in the house to the hallway.

"Thanks. This is a very nice house."

"Thank you." Just then, Stu came up from the living room. "Oh, Stu! This is our new neighbor."

"Everyone calls me Friar Tuck. This is my daughter, Shenzi." She babbled a bit, with her hand at her mouth.

"Stu Pickles," Stu introduced himself, "How old is this little princess?" He patted Shenzi's head as she stared at him in the same way as she did with Didi. He could've sworn that she was going to stare into his soul with those large eyes.

"She turned two just last month," Friar Tuck replied, "She's growing up fast."

"I know how you feel. Now, the kids are right in here." Didi led him to the living room, where the toddlers were in the red-fenced playpen.

"Which one is yours?" He asked her in curiosity.

"This here is Tommy, my son," Didi patted Tommy's head. "They are Phil and Lil, our friend Betty's twins, and this is Chuckie, our friend Chaz's son."

Shenzi physically perked up when she saw Chuckie. She remembered seeing him earlier, when the boxes were getting lugged in her new house. "She seems interested in Chuckie already," The badger remarked.

"Looks like it," Didi agreed with him, before a kitchen timer dinged. "Oh! Sounds like the spaghetti's done. Why don't we let Shenzi get acquainted with her new friends?"

"Alright." Friar Tuck set his daughter in the playpen, so she was facing away from the other toddlers. "You play nice with the other kids, okay?" He kissed her forehead, then followed Didi in the kitchen.

Shenzi watched him go, then turned to the other kids, who seemed to be staring at her. Her heart jumped when she saw the redhead again. "Hey! I 'member you!" She pointed at him with eagerness.

Chuckie looked back and forth, before pointing to himself. "Who, me?"

"Uh huh!" She nodded, then sat on the floor. "I'm Shenzi, what're your names again?"

"I'm Tommy," The bald baby introduced himself, "They're Phil and Lil," He gestured to the twins, who waved their hands in a greeting way.

"And I'm Chuckie," The redhead timidly finished.

"My daddy and I just started living at that house over there," Shenzi pointed in the direction her new home was at.

"Oh, oh yeah!" Chuckie exclaimed. "I 'member now. I sawed you when my dad and I came here."

"Do you live here, Chuckie?" She asked her.

"Nope," He shook his head, "This is Tommy's house."

"Ohh! Well, I like it!"

"Thanks, Shenzi!"

"Maybe sometime, you guyses can come see my new house. Everything's in there."

"Even your room?" Tommy asked her, recalling the time Susie first moved to the neighborhood, and he helped her find her bedroom.

"Uh huh," She nodded, "Why do you ask?"

"Well you see..." Tommy was about to explain, but he was cut off.

"Hello, babies!" 3-year-old Angelica Pickles walked up to the playpen. "I just watched the first episode of Cynthia P.I. What a great show! Who's your new friend?"

"Angelica, this is Shenzi," Tommy introduced her to the new girl, "She and her daddy moved next to Susie's house."

"Oh great," Angelica rolled her eyes, "As if four wasn't enough, another dumb baby comes in."

"Hey! You can't talk to her like that!" Phil stood up for their new friend.

"What was that?" She got in his face, making him nervous.

"N-nothing."

"Whatever. I'm going to go get some cookies from the kitchen. I can smell them." Angelica walked out of the room, and in the kitchen.

"Don't listen to her, Shenzi," Tommy told the black-haired girl.

"Is she always that mean?" She asked them, and they all nodded.

"You have no idea," Chuckie added, "We won't let her be mean to her."

"We just did," Phil pointed out.

"Can't we make one mistake?"

"It's okay," Shenzi assured them, "I can take care of my own self. I used to have this friend with a cousin as mean as her."

"Really?" Tommy was surprised. "Because Angelica's my cousin."

"Uh huh," Shenzi nodded to his question, "I was actually friends with two twins too."

Tommy, Chuckie, and the twins listened intently as she told them about her former friends back in Florida. Apparently, the one with the mean cousin was actually the leader of their little group, while the twins liked getting dirty a little too much, along with eating worms and bugs. What surprised Chuckie the most was, she seemed to have the same role in her former group as him! She expressed her feeling nervous during any adventures, but coming on them anyway, not wanting to be left behind.

What delighted her most, was that it felt like she had her friends back, along with a new one that completely understood her! Life was going to be great in Yucaipa, California. She just knew it.

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 **(A/N: Well, I hope this was a good start! You know the disclaimer; Any Rugrats characters belong to Klasky-Csupo, Friar Tuck [this version at least] belongs to Disney, and Shenzi belongs to me.)**


	2. Ch 1: Meet The Tucks Pt 2

**Could It Be?**

Ch. 1: Meet The Tucks Pt. 2

* * *

 _What delighted her most, was that it felt like she had her friends back, along with a new one that completely understood her! Life was going to be great in Yucaipa, California. She just knew it._

A few minutes had passed, and Friar Tuck was already introduced to Phil and Lil's parents, Betty and Howard DeVille, and Chuckie's father, Chaz Finster.

"So Tuck, tell us more about your little pup," Betty requested to their guest, "Color me curious."

"Well uh," He tried to think of what to say, "Firstly, she was born 2 months early."

Stu almost choked on his noodles in shock. That was the same as Tommy! "2 months?!"

"Wowee!" Betty exclaimed. "Seems like she was eager to enter the world, huh?"

"I guess," He sighed a bit, "She had to stay at the hospital in an incubator for a few weeks. Not going to lie, it was scary. But turns out, her internal organs were fine; She just needed to gain more weight before she was healthy enough to go home. I know that she'll be slightly, abnormally small as she grows up. She's already smaller than average. Not by a lot, but still. I'm afraid that she'll have to be put in a special school, because her brain didn't have enough time to completely form."

"She doesn't seems off to me," Didi remarked, glancing back at the toddlers in the living room, where they were playing with the ball, "Tommy was born prematurely as well, two months early, and he's functioning like normal. Shenzi will be just fine."

"I hope so. I don't want my little girl to be bullied for learning disabilities. Or in general."

"What other reason is there for that?" Betty asked him.

"She has heterochromia, where her eyes are two different colors. The left is green, while the right is blue. But bullies will come up with any reason to put others down. I don't want Shenzi to go through that because of things she can't control."

"Me neither," Didi shook her head, "She seems like a very sweet girl, who doesn't deserve anything of the sort."

In the playpen, the toddlers were rolling the ball around them as they sat in a circle. "Hey uh, Shenzi?" Tommy addressed the new kid.

"Yeah?" She looked at him, as she caught the ball in her tiny hands.

"Do you know if you'll be coming here again?"

"Hmm, I dunno. I hope I do; You guys are fun!"

"Well, there's always room for one more in our group," Tommy pointed out.

"We can be your new friends, if your daddy will allow it," Chuckie added.

"That'd be great!" She exclaimed, pushing the ball to Phil.

"How old are you?" Phil asked her, pushing the ball to Chuckie.

"I'm two," She replied with a shrug.

"Me too!" Chuckie exclaimed in surprise.

"If you're as old as Chuckie, how come you aren't as big as him?" Tommy asked her.

"Hmm," Shenzi looked down at herself; She was actually around as big as Phil or Lil. "I dunno. I do remember after I was borndid, I was in a fish tank for... forever before I was home."

Tommy was even more surprised at this. She was in a fish tank like him? "I was in one too!"

"Really?" Her eyes widened. "Were you born prema- uh, pre-... early too?"

"I'm not sure," He shrugged, "I just remember being in a fish tank before coming home."

"Oh, okay. 'Cause I've heard my daddy say I was borndid early to other growed-ups."

"Uh, I hate to change the subet, but Shenzi, are your eyes green _and_ blue?" Chuckie asked her.

"Uh huh," She nodded, "I have hero-coma, whatever that means. Although I think it just means my eyes are differnt colors."

"Oh," Chuckie understood... sort of, "Well uh, I think you have pretty eyes."

A blush grew on her cheeks. "Thanks, Chuckie."

In the kitchen, the spaghetti was gone, yet the adults were still conversing. "Well, why don't we move this party to the living room?" Betty suggested.

"Good idea," Stu nodded in agreement, before the adults sat on the couch in the living room.

"Shenzi seems to be getting along with the kids," Didi remarked.

"She and Chuckie seem pretty tight," Betty added. The adults looked, and saw the 2-year-olds sitting quite close together as they played with Tommy and the twins. "I see those two getting hitched in the near future."

Friar Tuck's eyes widened at the concept. "Hitched? My little girl, hitched?"

"It's bound to happen, Tucky," Betty pointed out, "She won't want to be lonely, or married to some airheaded pretty boy. Her future man will definitely be the Chuckster, I know it. You just wait and see, preacher; They're meant to be. Count on it."

As they played with Tommy's blocks, the toddlers heard the adults' conversation, mostly about the 2-year-olds. "Phil, Lil?" Shenzi turned to the twins.

"Yeah?" Lil turned to her, along with Phil.

"What's your mommy talking about with my daddy?" She asked them. "And what does hitched mean?" Both twins shrugged.

"I think hitched means getting in a car with someone you don't know," Tommy answered her question.

Shenzi looked nervous at that. "Why would I go in a car with someone I don't know?"

"Well, they said something about you and Chuckie getting hitched, so he might be with you in the strange car," Tommy pointed out.

"Oh yeah! That makes me feel a little better about it." Chuckie couldn't help but blush at that; Not a lot of people felt more comfortable around him in scary situations. He was going to like her.

Everyone turned to the door when Lou Pickles burst into the house, out of breath and carrying grocery bags in both arms. "Sorry I took so long," He puffed out, "I was in a darn traffic jam for 15 minutes." He put the groceries away with his youngest son's assistance without seeing the newcomers. "Now, where are the new neighbors you called me about, Stu?"

"They're right in here," Stu led him in the living room, and to the front of the couch. "Pop, this is Friar Tuck. He and his daughter moved in next to the Carmichaels. Friar Tuck, this is my father."

"Lou Pickles at your service, my good sir." He shook hands with their new neighbor. "It's nice to meet ya."

"It's nice to meet you too."

"Hey, Shenzi!" Tommy addressed her with excitement. "My grandpa's back home! Why don't you say hi? We'll wait on you."

"Okay!" She nodded with enthusiasm, and ran to the playpen fence.

"This is my daughter, Shenzi." Friar Tuck patted the child's head.

"Well, isn't she a pretty one?" Lou knelt to her level. "This little sprout will be stealing the boys' hearts in preschool with those eyes. Are they different colors?"

"Yes they are," The badger nodded, "She has heterochromia. Her left eye is blue, while the right is green."

"How old is she?"

"She turned 2 just last month. She's growing up fast. Before long, she'll be going to school, making more friends..." He couldn't finish his sentence, because "dating" and "getting married" were next.

"Finding a man to settle down with?" Lou finished for him. "I felt the same way about my boys when they were her age, before they met Didi and Charlotte. They do grow up fast."

As the two men talked, Shenzi walked back to her new friends. "Hey, Tommy? What did your grandpa mean by me stealing boys' hearts? Where is your heart?"

"Uh, I'm not sure," He shrugged.

"And how can I use my eyes? I only use my eyes for seeing stuffs, not stealing anything. Growed-ups are confusing."

After a while, the Tucks had bonded greatly with the Pickles, Finsters, and DeVilles. They met Drew and Charlotte Pickles when they came to pick up Angelica. Shenzi played ball, blocks, in the sandbox, tag, and hide-and-seek with her new friends. They were put back in the house when it started getting dark out, and in the playpen. As they played with the blocks, Shenzi's eyelids started feeling heavy. She let out a squeaky yawn as she set an arch on a rectangle. "You okay, Shenzi?" Chuckie asked her.

"Uh huh," She nodded, "I think I just need a nap. I'm sleepy."

"You know what I do when I'm sleepy?" Tommy asked her, and she shook her head. "I start crying, and my mommy or my daddy puts me in my crib for a nappy."

"You cry?" She confirmed, before turning to the redhead. "Is that what you do, Chuckie?" She trusted him more, since he was her age.

"Actually, I just fall asleep where I am, then when I wake up, I'm in my crib," Chuckie explained.

"Okay," She nodded with another yawn, "I'll try that." She carefully laid on her back, and let her eyes close and her tiny body relax.

After a minute or two, her tired state came noticed. "Looks like I need to take Shenzi home." Friar Tuck lifted his daughter up, trying to not wake her. "Well, it was very nice meeting all of you." After they wished him a good night, he headed out of the house and to his own. He set her in her crib, gently pulled off her shoes, and set them on her dresser. "G'night, sweetheart." He kissed her forehead over her soft, dark hair, then left her alone to sleep, after turning the light.

Shenzi smiled in her slumber as memories of the day flooded her mind. She was going to like it in Yucaipa, California.

* * *

 **(A/N: Well, there's the first actual chapter. You know the disclaimer.)**


	3. Ch 2: A Rugrats Halloween

**(A/N: This chapter is based off of the Rugrats episode "Candy Bar Creep Show". Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 2

* * *

About just a week later, Shenzi was already a new member of the group of toddling friends, as was Friar Tuck with the adults. He loved the other kids, and they loved his little girl; They babysat each others' kids when it was needed.

Before long, the Tucks were celebrating their first Halloween since they moved to California. After getting her dressed, Friar Tuck took Shenzi to the Pickles residence, where Stu, Didi, and Drew were setting up a haunted house in the backyard for trick-or-treaters. When he rang the doorbell, Didi answered. "Oh, good, you're here!" She said with joy. "Isn't she adorable?" She looked down at Shenzi. "Come on in! The boys are in the backyard, and the kids are in the playpen."

"Alright," He nodded, "Thanks." He set his daughter in the playpen by the fence. "Okay Shen, you play nice, okay? Daddy's got to help with the big, scary haunted house." After kissing her cheek, he walked out to the backyard.

Shenzi then turned to her friends after watching her father go. "Hi, guys!"

"Hey, Shenzi!" Chuckie greeted her back.

"Has your daddy been acting weird today?" Tommy asked her.

"Uh huh," She nodded, "Before I camed here, he dress-ed me in these funny clothes, and said I'm his "little mermaid."" She was in a purple sequin t-shirt with a ruffle hem, the same length as Tommy's regular sky blue shirt, green scale leggings over her diaper, matching slippers with light purple bows, and a green scale wrap headband with a purple sequin bow.

"What's a mermaid?" Phil asked her.

"A mermaid is a lady who has a fish tail instead of legs, and lives in the ocean," She explained. "I sawed a movie about one." She then turned to Tommy after the twins expressed interest. "Why do you ask about my daddy acting weird?"

"Because the growed-ups here have been acting weird too."

"Hey, goofballs!" Angelica came up to the playpen with a pumpkin bucket. "Guess what? I get a Reptar bar, and you don't!"

"You get a what?" Chuckie asked in confusion.

"A Reptar bar, dummy! Don't you all eat candy, or watch TV like you're supposed to?" The toddlers stared at her blankly. "Ugh! I have to explain everything to you babies!" She took a Reptar bar out of her bucket, and held it out for them to see.

"Wow!" They all admired it like it was buried treasure.

"Reptar?" Tommy confirmed.

"A candy bar?" Phil and Lil added.

"That's right, you little babies! Now listen!" Angelica took the wrapper off, "A Reptar bar is chocolate, and nuts, and caramel, and green stuff, and..." She then started singing. This reminded Shenzi of the mermaid movie she brought up earlier, because it had a song for almost every situation. " _It's swirled, and stirred, and wrinkled and beaten, and sweetened, and sweetened, till' you can't stop eatin'! The superest, the duperest, the double chocolate scooperest..._ " She used the bar to knock down a tower of blocks. " _The meanest, the best, it's better than the rest, Reptar Bar, Reptar Bar, the candy bar supreme!_ " Phil and Lil reached for the bar, but Angelica pulled it away. " _The candy bar that turns your tongue gree-ee-een!_ " She took a big bite, then stuck out her tongue, which had turned green from the candy, for them to see.

"Wow!" They exclaimed in amazement.

"And I get one, and you don't!" Angelica taunted them.

"How come?" Tommy asked her.

"Because it's Holly-ween," She replied.

"What's Holly-ween?" Phil and Lil wondered aloud.

"It's when the growed-ups are all running around, so I can go trick-or-treating!"

"What's trick-or-treating?" Tommy asked her.

"I don't know, but they said I'm gonna get more Reptar bars when I go, and you don't! So there!" Angelica chomped on her candy bar, then walked away.

"Shenzi, did your daddy say anything about you trick-or-treating?" Chuckie asked the new member of their little group.

"Uh-uh," She shook her head, "He dress-ed me up to get me in the Holly-ween spirit, whatever that means."

Just then, the toddlers saw Didi walking by, carrying bowls of grapes, spaghetti noodles, and most importantly, Reptar bars. Drew, who was in a gorilla costume, followed her with another bowl of bars. "You guys, they got Reptar bars in those bowls!" Chuckie pointed out.

"Yeah!" Phil and Lil added.

"We gotta get some!" Shenzi decided.

"But how?" Chuckie asked her.

"Hmmm," Tommy tried to think of a plan.

"Uh oh," Chuckie muttered, as the twins looked at each other.

Outside, Stu was hammering an arrow-shaped sign that read "Haunted House", pointing to the backyard, but after he hit his thumb with the hammer, he stopped and went to check on the attraction process. In the tent, Didi set the bowl of noodles on a stump, then put the bowl of Reptar bars on a table. "What a great haunted house!" Stu remarked. "I'm glad I thought of it, Drew."

Drew turned to his younger brother, while tying a skeleton to a wire. "I thought _I_ thought of it." The skeleton fell on the floor almost instantly.

Didi picked up a grape, which looked to have an eyeball on it, from the bowl. "Hmmm. Aren't these grape eyeballs a little too scary for our little trick-or-treaters?"

"Ha! Not scarier than my spaghetti worms!" Drew grabbed a handful of noodles.

"I'm glad Shenzi won't be coming in here," Friar Tuck remarked.

Just then, Lou walked in the tent with a scary mask over his head, making Didi gasp in shock. He shook his head around a bit, before removing the mask, while chuckling in amusement. "Grandpa! That mask is hideous!" She exclaimed. "Oh, we can't bring the babies in here!" Just then, a spider puppet dropped down by her head, making her flinch back. "They'd have nightmares for years!"

"Oops. I already promised Angelica she could come!" Drew revealed.

"Well, maybe she's mature enough," Didi theorized, "But let's wait a year with the others."

"Huh! When I was a spud, me and my brother, Sparky used to go trick-or-treatin' door-to-door!" Lou remarked. "'Course, in those days, it was 15 miles to the next house!" He took a handful of noodles out of the bowl. "And those were real tricks, and real ghosts, mind you!"

"Real ghosts, Pop?" Stu was skeptical at that.

"And me and Sparky weren't scared of nothin'!"

Just then, they heard some young voice. "Trick-or-treat!"

Lou dropped the noodles and his mask in startled fear. "What? What? What? Oh, what was that?"

"Oh! The trick-or-treaters are here!" Didi announced. "Places, everyone!"

Stu put up a "Worms" sign at the noodles bowl, and pushed a skull cutout in front of the grapes bowl, as Drew started playing scary music on a record player, and turned off the lights. Drew then put on his gorilla mask, and went to greet the children.

Meanwhile, the toddlers were watching them from inside the house, from the huge window. "What are those?" Chuckie wondered aloud.

"Big kids!" Lil replied in awe.

"Bigger and scarier than Angelica, even!" Phil added.

As the children entered the tent, followed by Drew, Didi saw more kids coming, as she was now wearing a vampire costume. "Oh my! More kids are starting to arrive!" The toddlers watched her in awe as she put in her costume dentures.

"You'd better get out there, Deed!" Stu called out to her. "I still have to put on my Frankenstein flat-top!" She then walked outside, as Stu finished his Frankenstein costume. He then walked past the toddlers when the doorbell rang, as they watched him in interest. They then came back to the window, and watched the kids outside.

"Ooh, what scary costumes!" Didi greeted them, and a boy dressed as a cat meowed. "Now, you may enter the haunted house!" With that, the trick-or-treaters entered the tent.

"How come they went in there?" Shenzi wondered aloud, and Chuckie shrugged.

Her question was answered by the kids' sudden screams from inside the tent, startling the toddlers. But then, they ran out of the tent, holding Reptar bars in their hands. "Reptar bars!" The toddlers exclaimed simultaneously. As the kids laughed, they took off their masks.

"Wow! They pulle their faces off!" Tommy pointed out, and they turned away from the window.

"They have two faces!" Chuckie added.

"And enough Reptar bars to feed both of 'em!" Shenzi added in.

They then witnessed two boys in costumes running out of the tent, laughing and holding Reptar Bars. Tommy then had an idea. "I get it! All we have to do to get a Reptar bar is scream!" They all faced each other.

"I don't know, Tommy," Chuckie was reluctant, "I scream all the time, and alls I ever get is a bottle, or a diaper."

"Same here," Shenzi added.

"Yeah, guys, but this is Holly-ween!" Tommy pointed out. "Everything's differnt!"

"Yeah!" The twins backed him up.

"Maybe we don't have to scream," Chuckie theorized, "Maybe Angelica will, uh... share with us!"

"I doubt it," Shenzi shrugged.

"Come on, guys! Don't be babies!" Tommy encouraged them. "Okay, ready? 1, 12, 5!" As they inhaled, two boys in pirate costumes came to the haunted house, but the toddlers' screams scared them away.

When Stu and Didi rushed into the living room, the screaming stopped. "Oh, Stu! The trick-or-treaters must have scared them!" Didi theorized, as the toddlers waited with hope.

"Don't worry, champ," Stu tried to comfort a disappointed Tommy, "We'll fix it, so those old monsters can't scare you."

Didi then pulled on the curtains, so they closed over the window completely. "That's better." She then headed back outside with her husband to the tent.

"Aww," Shenzi pouted, "All that screamin' for nothing."

"Yeah!" Chuckie agreed.

"I don't get it," Tommy said to himself, "How come when those kids screamed, they get candy, but we don't? What are they doing different?" It then came to him. "Wait a minute! Chuckie, Shenzi, Phil, Lil, we have to scream inside that place!" He walked up to the window.

"What place?" The twins asked him simultaneously.

Tommy then pulled the curtains back open, unveiling the tent. "The place where the big kids are going!"

"I don't know, Tommy," Chuckie hesitated, "It might be pretty scary in there."

"Yeah," Shenzi nodded in agreement, "If it scares them, imagine how scary it'll be for us!"

"Aw, come on, you guys!" Tommy insisted.

The Pickles' family dog, Siberian Tiger Hound Spike, woke up to see the babies sneaking out of the house in front of him, but thought nothing of it and went back to sleep.

Outside, the tots peered into the tent in turn, and stared. "Wow!" Tommy and the twins breathed out in awe, before the latter stood up and walked inside.

"See, guys?" Tommy turned to the 2-year-olds. "This isn't scary."

They then started walking around. "Well, it's a little scary," Shenzi remarked.

Chuckie walked up to a mirror, and it was one for a fun house, so his reflection was warped. Tommy sneaked behind the skull cutout, and reached into the bowl of grapes. Phil and Lil made a beeline for the noodles bowl, mistaking them for worms, as Chuckie gawked at his reflection. "Worms!" They giggled with joy as they tossed noodles in the air. Shenzi was petting the fake black cats all around the area.

"Whoa-oh! I think I'm gonna throw up," Chuckie moaned when the mirror made him queasy.

Tommy and Shenzi were reaching for fake bats hanging on wires, when they heard voices. "Trick-or-treat!"

"My, what scary costumes!" Didi complimented them.

"Mine's not scary, Aunt Didi!" The toddlers' hearts froze at that voice; Angelica! "I'm a little angel!"

"Of course you are, dear!"

"Angelica?" The babies turned to one another in fear, before they ran around for hiding places. The twins ducked behind the stump with the noodles bowl, Tommy hid behind the tent drape by a fan, Chuckie got his ankle tied in the rope holding the skeleton up, and. Shenzi hid behind the skull cutout and the bowl of grapes.

"There you go! One for you, one for you, and you, wolfie! And one for the little mummy!" Drew handed candy out to the kids outside. In the tent, the skeleton shook around as Chuckie tried to free himself. Tommy tried to push the drape up, but it fell over him with the fan blowing in his direction, so he looked like a ghost. "And here's a Reptar bar for you, muffin!"

"Reptar!" Tommy said to himself.

"Just put 'em in your treat bags, and..." Drew held the tent open, and the kids plus Angelica walked in, "Enter the haunted palace!"

"Chuckie! Shenzi! Phil and Lil! It's screaming time!" Tommy told the others, and they all inhaled, preparing for it.

The trick-or-treaters froze when they heard screams coming out of seemingly nowhere. "Look!" Angelica pointed to one of the mirrors, and saw Phil and Lil's distorted reflections, with noodles on their heads. When Chuckie finally freed himself, the skeleton ended up falling on Angelica. "Aaaah!" She screamed in terror. She backed away, but bumped into the skull cutout, making her turn to see it. Shenzi happened to be behind it, and her eyes were where the skull's eyes were missing. "Aaaah!" She pushed the cutout in fear, so the grapes spilled out of the bowls. "Ewww! Eyeballs!" She then joined the other kids in hiding, but then saw Tommy still under the sheet. "Aaaah! A gho-o-o-ost!"

Lou then walked in, wearing the same mask he had on earlier. "What's all the ruckus?"

The kids gasped in horror at him, before running for their lives. "Aaaah!"

Lou tried to walk out behind them after removing his mask, but he slipped and fell from the grapes on the floor. "Ooh! Wha? Hey!" He tossed his mask aside, unknowingly making it fall on Chuckie, so it covered his entire body. He then saw the twins' distorted reflections in the mirror, but didn't recognize them. "Hey! Jumping jehosphat! Real ghosts!" Chuckie then walked towards him, still covered by the mask. "Leapin' Librarians!" He looked to the where the grapes bowl was, and saw the skull cutout now seemingly had large, blinking eyes. "Gallopin' gizzards!" He tried to crawl away, but saw Tommy still hidden by the sheet. "Hoppin' horny toads!" He managed to crawl out of the tent.

Tommy finally pulled the sheet off, as Chuckie took the mask off his body. "Wow, Tommy! Look!" The toddlers saw abandoned Reptar bars scattered before them.

"Reptar bars!" They all exclaimed happily.

When Spike woke up, he saw the babies walking back in the living room, carrying buckets and bags full of candy with them. A noodle fell on the floor, so he slurped it up, and fell back asleep.

Outside, Stu, Drew, and Didi were asking Lou and Angelica questions about what they saw in the haunted house. "Now, how many zombies was it, Pop?" Stu asked him.

"It was 2 zombies, I tell ya! Snake-haired zombies, shrieking something horrible!"

"Pop, it's just a little haunted house," Drew reminded him, "We built it ourselves, remember?"

"Well, I don't remember building any zombies! And another thing; How'd my mask move by itself? And what about that ghost?"

"A ghost, Pop?" Drew said skeptically. "Come on."

"There _was_ a ghost, Daddy!" Angelica exclaimed, walking up to Lou. "A horrible, terrible ghost that wrecked my halo and _scared_ me!"

"Scared me too, darlin'," Lou hugged her, "Not goin' back in there! No siree!"

"I thought you said nothing scared you when you were a kid, Pop?" Stu pointed out with a smirk.

"Well, that was now, this is then!" The two brothers nudged each other's elbows with winks. "Okay, then, which one of you heroes is goin' in there first?" They glanced at each other, now feeling nervous.

Angelica turned to them, looking angry. "I want my Reptar bar!"

Inside the house, the toddlers were enjoying their bars, before Tommy stuck out his now-green tongue. "Wow!" Chuckie exclaimed, and stuck his tongue out at Shenzi to show her. She giggled, then repeated his actions.

"Angelica was right!" Phil remarked, before he stuck out his green tongue.

"Yeah!" Lil agreed. "It _does_ turn your tongue green! See?" She stuck it out for the others to see.

"Why me? Why do I have to go in there alone?" Stu questioned Drew's motive.

"'Cause I'm older!" He replied.

"Hey, no fair!" He held up his hand in a "stop" gesture.

"Alright, I'll tell you what; You go first, and I'll cover you."

"Uh-uh, _I'll_ cover _you!_ "

"I want my Reptar bar!" Angelica demanded again.

"Okay, we'll go in together," Stu decided.

"Right!"

"Ready..."

"Set..."

"Wait a minute, maybe I should get a flashlight."

"Right, right. A, a flashlight."

"Okay! You go on in there, and I'll, uh go get a flashlight and join you."

"Oh, oh no, little brother! You go in there, and I'll get a flashlight!"

"Why me? Why do I have to go in there alone?"

"I WANT MY REPTAR BAR!"

* * *

 **(A/N: Happy Halloween in late March! You know the disclaimer. Did you like Shenzi's small contribution to the scaring, by hiding at the grapes?)**


	4. Ch 3: Christmas Pt 1

**(A/N: Do I even need to say it by now? Writer's block again! This chapter, and the one upcoming are based off of "The Santa Experience." Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 3

* * *

Thanksgiving flew by, and before long, it was Christmas time! Shenzi and Friar Tuck were at the department store in the local mall with the Pickles, minus Didi, who needed help with the faucet pipes in the kitchen, and Charlotte, and the Finsters. They were in line with Tommy, Chuckie, and Angelica to have a chance to meet Santa Claus.

Shenzi was festively dressed in a green puff-sleeved shirt with a red and white chevron striped pocket, a red and green holly leaf tutu in dark hues, a red, white and green ruffled cover over her diaper, green Doc Martens boots, her usual socks, and a red bow headband. "First, it gets really, really cold," Chuckie was explaining to her and Tommy, "Then, the growed-ups start actin' real nice, and smiling all the time. And that's not the worsest part! One night... _he_ comes!"

"Who comes?" Shenzi asked him.

"The scariest guy in the world!" He gulped, and stepped a bit closer to them. " _Santa Claus!_ "

"Chuckie!" Shenzi giggled. "You can't be scared of _Santa!_ "

"He's big, and fat, and jolly, and brings you presents!" Tommy added.

"That's not what _I_ heard," Chuckie protested, but before he could explain, he was cut off unintentionally.

"Okay, who's next to see Santa?" The elf at the fake house asked the people in line.

"Me, me, me!" Angelica yelled out excitedly, despite not being at the front. As she ran in the house, pushing another kid aside, Friar Tuck rolled his eyes secretly. He wasn't fond of how Drew practically allowed his daughter to misbehave, but always kept it to himself. He, for one, was raising Shenzi to be a good, polite girl.

In the house, Angelica ran up to the mall Santa, and practically plopped in his lap. "Oh!" He exclaimed in surprise. "Uh, ho, ho, ho! And how are you today, um..."

"Angelica."

"Angelica! And why don't you tell Santa what you want for Christmas." As Santa recited his lines, a photographer took a picture of him and Angelica, who smiled enthusiastically for it.

"I want a Luxurious Hair Cynthia Doll," She started.

"Of course you do. And if you're a good little girl..."

"A Teenage Nuclear Fusion Squad video game..."

"Well..."

"A Rocco Mr. X Exploding Smash-Up Doll, a Beverly Hills Cynthia Lunch Box, a pony, and a 9-11 Surgical Kit With working stethoscope."

"Yes, that's an awful lot of presents..."

" _I'm not finished yet!_ " Angelica shouted angrily, before regaining her composure. "But the biggest and most importantest thing I want is a Deluxe Cynthia Beach House with real working hot tub, satellite dish, entertainment center, & attached garage."

"Yes, um, Angelica, um, that's a mighty long list of toys. I don't know if Santa..."

"Hold on! If you're the real Santa, how come you don't know this stuff already?" She questioned him suspiciously.

"Well, uh..."

"Hey! Wait a minute! You're not the real Santa Claus!" She tore off his fake beard. "You're _a phony!_ "

"Hey!"

Angelica ran out of the house with the beard in hand. "Santa Claus is a fake! Run for your lives!" Throughout the induced panic, the adults quickly left with their frightened kids.

At the Pickles house, as it turns out, the manager at the store had given Angelica a big box of toys to make up for what all went down. "Wow!" Phil exclaimed after Angelica opened the box.

"Where'd you get that neat box of toys?" Lil asked her.

"From Santa Claus."

"I thought he only gived you stuff on Christmas," Phil pointed out.

"Nah, you just gotta know how to work him."

Stu then walked into the house with Tommy in his arms, followed by Drew carrying another toy box, Chaz with Chuckie, and Friar Tuck with Shenzi. "Can you guys imagine how upset Angelica must be finding out that that department store Santa was a fake?" Drew asked them all in concern.

"She doesn't look that upset to me," Friar Tuck almost deadpanned. Sure enough, Angelica had a wide grin on her face as she was unwrapping a present.

"Yeah, the manager gave her practically every toy in the store," Chaz added.

"Do you think toys can compensate for what she's been through? She may be traumatized for life!"

Just after the adults walked away to the kitchen after setting their kids in the playpen, Angelica was unhappy. "Hey! This is a bunch of junk!" She tossed a teddy bear aside. "They didn't give me any of the stuff I wanted!" When Phil and Lil tried to reach in, she swung at their hands, so they jumped away and ran in the kitchen. In there, the guys were at the table, while Didi was still supervising Betty's help in fixing the faucet pipes.

"Well, even if she is traumatized for life, Drew, she'll still have a better Christmas than I ever had," Chaz remarked.

"What do you mean, Charles?" Didi asked him. "Didn't you ever have a real special dinner, with lots of family and presents?"

"When I was a kid, Christmas was always kind of... disappointing. The best gift I ever got was a rubber glove and a tongue depressor. I'm just afraid of being the same for Chuckie."

"I just wish I could do something to reaffirm Angelica's faith in Santa," Drew remarked.

"Hey, I know!" Betty piped up. "Lets rent a place up in the mountains and do it up right! A real white Christmas!"

"What a great idea!" Stu exclaimed. "We can chop down our own tree, and sing carols, and open up presents there on Christmas morning!"

The adults started leaving the kitchen, with their plans in mind. "I'll call the travel agent, and get a cabin!" Didi announced hers.

"I'll go buy some lights and ornaments," Stu added.

"I'll drink a couple of quarts of eggnog, and fall asleep in front of the TV!" Lou added in, making Friar Tuck roll his eyes with a smirk.

In the living room, Angelica was still disappointed with what she got in the box, as she rifled through it. "Just my luck. I get a whole bunch of toys, and not one of them is any fun. What am I gonna do with a bunch of dumb old crayons?" She tossed a box of crayons behind her back. "And what's this?" She took out one that caught her eye. "A Reptar space helmet?! Great!" She tossed it aside, now glum. "Just great!"

In the playpen, Chuckie was stacking some blocks aside or on top of one another, as Shenzi and Tommy. "I'm telling you, Tommy, Shenzi, that Santa's a bad guy. He's always watching you, keeping track of everything you do. And then, in the middle of the night, he breaks into your house with a big bag full of who knows what." He knocked down his blocks at "breaks" for emphasis.

"But Chuckie, he gots presents in that bag," Shenzi protested.

"Oh sure, that's what he _wants_ you to think."

Meanwhile, Phil was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, looking glum with his hands on his cheeks, and his elbows on his knees. "What's the matter with you?" Angelica asked him after pushing the box of toys to the couch.

"Oh, nothin'. I just wish I could figure out what to give Lil for Christmas," He confessed.

She then got an idea. "Really? What if you gave her something for her favorite coloring book? Like maybe, crayons?"

"Yeah!" Phil liked her suggestion. "But Angelica, where am I gonna get a great present like that?"

"Right here," She held up the box for him to see.

"Gee thanks, Angelica! What a pal!" He ran up to grab them, but she stopped him.

"Not so fast! You can have them, alright, but its gonna cost ya."

"Cost me?"

"Not much," Angelica absentmindedly took out the red, green, blue, and yellow crayons from the box, "Just your Reptar doll."

"My Reptar doll?! But it's my favoritest toy ever!" Phil protested as he ran up to the doll and held it protectively.

"Well, can't say I didn't try." She went to put the box back.

"Wait!" He stopped her. "Okay, okay, Lil's my sister." He hesitantly gave up his toy, but was happy with the crayons she gave him, or tossed in front of him, as he walked off.

"Oh boy! It doesn't get any better than this!" She said to herself, holding the Reptar doll. But then, she saw Lil sitting alone by the window. "Hey, wait a minute. Maybe it does!"

In the kitchen, Didi was trying to find a good location to go for the holidays through her travel agent. "I know it's only a few days till Christmas, but don't you have anything?" She listened to the response. "Yes? Yes?" She was getting hopeful, but it dropped down. "No, I don't think Tijuana's the right location." She then hung up.

Meanwhile, Drew and Chaz were sitting just outside, talking to themselves glumly. "Poor Angelica; Christmas is ruined forever," Drew lamented.

"Poor Chuckie; I wish there's something I can do to make Christmas extra special," Chaz said to himself.

"If only I can make it up to her, and make Santa come alive again. And how."

They then thought for a second, before jumping up on their feet. "Hey! I got an idea!" They exclaimed at the same time.

"No, no, you first," Chaz insisted.

"No, no, you," Drew insisted back.

"Okay. I was thinking; Why don't I dress up as Santa, and come down the chimney on Christmas Eve?" Chaz expressed his idea. "The kids will hear me, come downstairs, and get a glimpse of ol' St. Nick."

"Well, that's exactly what I was thinking!"

"You were?"

"Yeah! Of course," Drew chuckled, "We wouldn't actually have you as Santa. We get Tuck to do it, or a professional." They started walking in the house.

"What's wrong with me? I'm a good actor!" Chaz protested. "Remember our 4th grade play? I got the title role in "Wind and the Willows"!"

"Chaz, you were a tree."

"I was the _willow!_ "

"Forget it, Chaz. I'm hiring a professional."

As the adults walked off, Angelica came up to Lil, pulling her toy box along with her. "Hi, Lil. Whatcha doing? Trying to figure out something to give Phil for Christmas?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" She asked the older girl.

"I'm your friend. I know these things. Now, think for a second. What's Phil's favoritest toy in the whole world?"

"Umm, his building blocks?" Lil guessed.

"No, think again."

"His pop-up book?"

"One more time."

"His stuffed alligator with the missing eye?" She closed her right eye for emphasis.

"No!" Angelica shouted. "His Reptar doll!"

"Oh yeah."

"Now, what could you give him to make his Reptar doll better?"

"Another Reptar doll to be its friend?" Lil hugged herself at "friend".

"No..."

"A "Reptar On Ice" sing-along record?"

"No..."

"I know! A Reptar surfboard!" Lil mimed surfing.

"NO!" Angelica shouted again, making Lil fall over in surprise. "A _Reptar space helmet,_ dummy!"

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Lil was enthusiastic, before slumping a bit. "But where am I going to get a Reptar space helmet?"

As it turns out, she gave her coloring book to Angelica, in exchange for what she wanted for Phil, before she walked away happy. "What a great trick, Cynthia!" Angelica said to her doll, before turning to the twin boy, who was looking at a book. "Phil's gonna get a Reptar space helmet for Christmas, but he doesn't have his Reptar doll." She then turned to Lil, who was admiring the space helmet. "And Lil's gonna get crayons, but she doesn't have her coloring book!" She then cackled to herself in victory, then sat against the box. "I'm _bad,_ Cynthia! _Real_ bad!"

In the playpen, Chuckie was still unconvinced. "He's _bad,_ you guys. _Real_ bad."

"We keep telling you, Chuckie," Shenzi protested, as Tommy was stacking his blocks into a staircase, "He's nice."

"I just wish I could catch him to show ya!" Chuckie caught the ball in his hands.

"Chuckie! That's it!" Tommy exclaimed as he stood up. "We'll catch Santa in a trap, and make him tell us if he's good or bad!"

"Catch him?" Shenzi was kind of hesitant at that.

Just then, Lou walked in the room. "Gather 'round, sprats! I want to tell you about Santa Claus!" After he sat in his chair, the kids gathered in front of him on the floor, eager to hear the story. "Now maybe you heard folks say he's not real. Just a fairy tale. Well, it ain't the truth. St. Nick is as real as you and me."

"Wow!" They exclaimed in surprise.

"That's right." Lou took off his glasses, and polished them off. "I've seen them with my own two eyes." He pointed at his eyes for emphasis.

"Really?" Angelica asked him.

"Yep!" He put his glasses back on. "Now here's the point of my story. You see, Santa may be old, but he's as sharp as a toothpick." He held up a toothpick for emphasis. "And if you've been bad, you don't get that special doll you've wanted, or that fine looking electric train..." Chuckie gasped in fear as his hands were in his hair. "Or that nice, pretty dress you've had your eye on." Shenzi's eyebrows raised up in surprise. "Instead," He held his hands together like a rock, "You get a great, big ugly lump of coal!" Angelica gulped nervously at that. "Of course, none of this applies to any of you sprats! You've all been good as gold!"

Didi then came to the walkway from the kitchen. "Guess what, everyone? We got a cabin!" The adults cheered at that, as Angelica looked afraid at the concept of getting coal instead of the presents she wanted.

l-l

That night, Drew tucked a still nervous Angelica into bed. After giving her a kiss, he went to turn her light off, but her voice stopped him. "Daddy?"

"Yes, sugar?"

"Is it true that if you're a bad little kid, Santa Claus will give you a lump of coal instead of presents?"

"Sure is, pumpkin." She gulped again. "Sweet dreams, princess." After turning her light off, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Once she was alone, Angelica took Cynthia out from under the covers. "I don't care what they say, Cynthia, that guy Santa can't possibly know that trick I played on Phil & Lil. Can he?" She then shook her doll. "Can he?! Of course not." She yawned and started drifted off, laying on her right side. "Oh, what a great trick I played. Dumb old Santa. Great trick. Can't know..." She dropped Cynthia to the floor as she fell asleep. But a dream started forming in her subconscious.

 _At morning time, snow was falling just outside, as Angelica woke up. "It's Christmas! She cheered, then ran downstairs and to the Christmas tree, where a lot of neatly wrapped presents were arranged. "Oh boy!"_

 _"And they're_ all _for_ you, _princess," Drew smiled at her._

 _She eagerly opened the first present, but just what did she find? "Coal?" She tossed it aside, then opened another present, but it was the same thing! "Coal?" She opened three more, and yet... "Coal! Coal! Coal! It can't be! It just can't be! Santa's just a smelly old guy in red pajamas! There's no way he could've known!"_

 _"Oh ho, but I do!" She gasped at that voice; It was Santa! "I know everything. Phil got a new Reptar doll, Lil got a new coloring book, and what did_ you _get?" While cackling, Santa poured a sackful of coal on Angelica, as she screamed in terror._

 _"Noooooooo!"_

"Huh, wha?" She snapped awake.

Drew then came rushing in the room, turning the light on. "What happened, sweetie?"

"Daddy, Daddy, what day is it?" She held onto one of her bed posts. "Is it Christmas?"

"No, honey," He yawned, "Not yet."

"Then it was a dream," Angelica concluded to herself, "There's still time." She then turned to Drew. "Daddy, I gotta find Phil and Lil!"

"You'll see them later today when we go up to the mountains. Right now, why don't you get some sleep while it's still dark?" He turned her light back off, then left the room.

When she was alone, she picked up Cynthia from the floor. "Hear that, Cynthia? There's still time. We gotta trade Phil & Lil's presents back before it's too late!"

* * *

 **(A/N: There's part one! You know the disclaimer. Originally, I wanted to give Shenzi and Chuckie the twins' "Gift of the Magi" plot, but I couldn't figure out how to make it work with her and Tommy proving a point to Chuckie, so I left it the way it is now, and will be.)**


	5. Ch 4: Christmas Pt 2

**(A/N: This last part came pretty fast! Plus the original ending will be extended. ;) Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 4

* * *

The next morning, the Pickles, DeVilles, Finsters, and Tucks were on their way to the cabin. It was up on a snowy mountain, so there was a lot of driving. " _Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hey!_ " The adults sang on the way. " _Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh!_ " Stu then stopped the car in front of a modern-looking cabin with an amazing view. After Spike jumped out, the adults followed him inside the cabin, where they admired the impressive interior.

After Phil and Lil were set on the floor, as the adults walked around the cabin, Angelica came up to them from behind a suitcase, unintentionally startling them. "Hiya, Phil; Hiya, Lil. Can I talk to you guys for a minute?"

"What did we do?" Lil asked her fearfully.

"Oh, you didn't do nothing." It's just that I thought I could do you two a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Phil asked her.

"Well..." Angelica was cut off.

"Aha! There you two are!" Betty picked up the twins after finding them. "Come on, kids, Momma's taking you to cut down your first Christmas tree!" She then left the room, with Angelica watching.

"Drat!"

Outside, Lou was hammering a wreath to the door, but accidentally hit his thumb with the hammer, making him yell in pain, before Spike ran out the doggy door, knocking the chair down. Lou landed on his backside, the wreath falling around his upper arms, before he checked his sore thumb.

Inside the cabin, Chuckie, Shenzi, and Tommy watched him, before turning to each other. "You sure you want to catch Santa, you guys?" Shenzi asked them. On this day, she was wearing a red short-sleeved dress with a small Christmas tree on the front and a green and red fluffy tutu skirt that moved a lot, black fleece leggings for warmth in the cold, black sneakers with gingerbread cookies on them and red laces, a headband with red, green, and white stripes and a green sequin bow, and a black winter coat with a ruffle hem, white collar, and white buttons, although she currently wasn't using it.

"Yeah, maybe he'll just leave us alone," Chuckie added, slumping on the floor.

"Chuckie, don't worry; He's nice," Tommy insisted, "Now, let's go, guys. We gotta check the whole house for places to set Santa traps." They walked by the door as Spike ran in. "Doggy door?"

"Check," Shenzi replied.

They then passed the large windows in the dining room. "Dining room windows?"

"Check," Chuckie mentally checked it off.

They then walked by the fireplace. "Chimbley."

"Chimbley?" Shenzi and Chuckie said together incredulously.

"Oh, you're right. No one in their right mind would try to come down a chimbley." They made their way again, forgetting about the chimney. Too bad it wasn't such a great idea.

In the kitchen, Chaz and Friar Tuck were carefully taking a turkey out of the oven as Charlotte was stirring in a pot while talking to her work assistant on her cell phone. It was practically a part of her. "Jonathan, listen! I am tired of these endless justifications!"

"Mommy, can I go chop down a tree with Aunt Didi?" Angelica requested.

"Sure, hon," She complied, "Have fun." She then returned to her call. "Now, Jonathan..."

"Charlotte, it's so nice that you could finally get away from work to spend the holidays with us," Stu remarked as he poured some powder in the pot.

"Well, it is Christmas after all," Charlotte said to her brother-in-law, "The season of love and joy." She then returned to her call almost immediately. "I don't care Jonathan! We got to crush the competition and we got to crush them now!"

At the door, Angelica and the twins were bundled up for tree shopping with Didi and Betty. "Okay, I got the ax!" Didi held up the ax.

"Great, I got the permit," Betty showed the paper, "Let's go chop ourselves a sapling!"

Angelica leaned towards the twins, and lowered her voice volume. "As soon as we get on the sled, we'll be able to talk." But her scarf was tied over her mouth, so her voice was muffled, as Didi pulled the sled in the snow. Spike ran ahead as Didi and Betty looked at all the trees available for any consumers.

"How about this one?" Betty suggested one.

"Too small," Didi turned it down.

"How about that one?"

"Umm, not enough branches in the back."

"C'mon, Deed," Betty was getting impatient, "A tree's a tree; Just pick one."

Didi looked around some more, before spotting a good one. "That's it!" They walked up to the tree as Spike sniffled at the trunk. "It's exactly the right size; The perfect shape!" She felt the branches. "Isn't it cute?"

"Good choice, Deed. Now, stand back." Betty prepared the ax.

"What are you doing?!" Didi exclaimed alarmingly.

"I'm going to chop it down."

"Oh no, you don't!" Didi stood in front of the tree protectively. "Not this tree!" As Betty lowered the axe in exasperation, Angelica lowered her scarf to her chin.

"Think I could talk to you guys for a second?" She asked the twins.

"Sure," Phil replied.

"About what?" Lil asked her.

"About... presents." The twins looked at each other. "It all started when the first present was given by the Pilgrims a long long time ago. After that, everybody started giving presents. Even the Easter Bunny started giving them until Santa slapped him with a lawsuit." She stood on the sled. "So anyway, what I'm try to say is..." Before she could finish, the sled started rolling down the hill. She screamed in terror as Phil and Lil watched her, not knowing what to do. When the sled stopped, she flew off and landed in a snowdrift.

At the cabin, they finally decided on a fake tree from "Forever Green," as Stu pulled it out of its cardboard tubing. Shenzi and Chuckie pushed a yule log in front of the dog door, with Tommy pulling, for their first trap. Chaz, Didi, and Friar Tuck were hanging popcorn garland on the huge tree. Phil tried to eat a piece, but Angelica tapped on his shoulder and tried to talk with him, but Betty picked him up, and walked away from him. "Humph," She pouted in annoyance. For another trap, Shenzi strung the garland in front of the door, looping it around the knob, and tied it to a chair leg as a trip wire. Angelica tried to talk with Lil, but the younger girl was too fast for her, as Howard retrieved her. Drew and Charlotte started helping in decorating the tree by hanging up festive ornaments. Lou was hammering their stockings above the fireplace, now having only one left.

As she hung up a blue ornament on the tree, and before that time, Charlotte was still on her phone. "What am I kidding? There's no problem here; I'm a problem solver. I just inherently know what to do. You call me up, I know the answer. I was born with the talent. Yeah, I know, I know. Well listen, I know more than any lawyer. You don't have to start with me," She laughed, "I'm not afraid. What are you kidding? They call me; they consult with me. Oh, is that right? Well listen, I have a couple of things to tell them; I don't know why I should bother. I'm not gonna stoop so low. I have better things to do with my time, I can tell you that much. Are you kidding? Certainly not. I can't leave that office for one minute without something just... ah, for heaven's sakes. Well of course I know what to do. I inherently know what to do with everything. I pay you, and I pay you plenty!"

When Lou went to hang up the last stocking, Spike's sudden bark startled him into hitting his index finger. "Yeow!" He looked down at Spike, who feigned innocence.

"Dinner!" Didi called out from the dining room.

During dinner, Tommy and Chuckie were sitting on phone books on the same chair, in order to reach the table, as Shenzi was in Friar Tuck's lap. "You think those traps would work, you guys?" Chuckie asked them.

"Chuckie, you worry too much," Tommy remarked.

"Yeah, those traps will definitely get him," Shenzi added, before sucking on a carrot.

Lou was trying to scoop some peas in his spoon with his injured fingers, but Spike's bark startled him again. He saw him looking hopeful, but he tried to shoo him away. When Spike laid down dejectedly with a pitiful whimper, Lou gave him a piece of his meat.

"Tell those personnel people to remove paragraph 3 and replace it with a Santa Claus, uh, I mean a _sanity_ clause," Charlotte corrected herself when Angelica was looking at her.

"Well suppose I can try to make up for doing something bad, but you couldn't fix it," Angelica said to Didi, "Will Santa still bring a lump of coal?"

"Oh, Angelica. You're such a good little girl," Didi smiled at her niece, "I don't know why you have so many questions about bad children."

"Aw look, isn't that cute?" Stu remarked; The adults saw that Tommy and Chuckie were yawning tiredly. Shenzi yawned as well, before slumping back on her daddy's stomach.

"Time to put the young'uns to bed," Betty announced.

"Oh no," Angelica said to herself in despair. She was too late!

In one of the bedrooms, Phil and Lil shared a crib, while Tommy was with Shenzi and Chuckie, who were next to each other. Shenzi was now in a black nightdress with short puff sleeves, a green and gold "Merry Christmas" design on the front with a tree, and red plaid leggings attached on. Her white and black mustache slippers were on her feet to keep them warm.

He feigned sleeping until the adults left, before he sat up. "Chuckie? Shenzi?"

"Must... stay... awake," Chuckie drew out sleepily as he slowly sat up and put his glasses back on, with Shenzi sitting up with him, "Must..." They almost immediately fell back asleep, Shenzi practically plopping down.

"Guys!" Tommy exclaimed.

"What?! What is it?!" Chuckie exclaimed as he and the slightly younger girl shot up.

"Is Santa here?!" Shenzi added alarmingly.

"No, you both almost went to sleep," Tommy explained.

"No, Tommy. We're awake," Chuckie said tiredly as he and Shenzi struggled to keep their eyes open.

"Oh no, you guys! Phil and Lil are asleep!" Tommy pointed out, but he then saw that the 2-year-olds were out as well. "Guys!" They laid next to each other silently. "Um, I guess it's up to me," Tommy said to himself, "Maybe I'll just make myself comfy while I wait." He laid down and covered himself with the blanket he was sharing, and was asleep almost immediately.

" _Joy to the world, The Lord has come!_ " The adults, except Charlotte, were singing in the living room, " _Let Earth receive her king! Let every heart..._ "

"Listen, something I learned in life and that is to be a self-starter!" Charlotte talked on her phone. "Everywhere I am today, I have done myself!"

After Chaz gave him the signal, Friar Tuck sneaked into another room with the Santa costume. Chaz had to admit that he was better for the job, mostly body-wise, and the chimney was fairly wide, so there wouldn't be any problems involving it anyway.

After he was out of sight, Angelica walked down the hall dejectedly. "Why did I do it?" She lamented guiltily to herself. "Why did I take Phil's Reptar doll? Why did I take Lil's coloring book?"

Once she was gone, Friar Tuck came out, now in the costume. "Wait till they get a load of this!"

"Is this "The Santa Experience"?" Drew made a call to the service, and received a positive answer. "Just calling to confirm the Santa act tonight." He waited another second or two for the confirmation. "Great!" He then hung up, feeling satisfied.

In another room, Lou had fallen asleep in front of the TV, as Angelica sat at the TV table, still feeling guilty. "I tried to be good, Cynthia. I really tried."

"The holidays can be a depressing time of the year," A man in a Santa hat on the TV started reciting his lines for the program.

"You said it," Angelica agreed sadly.

"Don't let this very special time of year become a nightmare for you. Call 1-800-555-YULE, and talk to someone who cares."

After perking up, Angelica rushed to the phone. "555-5555!" She dialed the number, then waited for an answer. But as it turned out, she had called "Cogs Unlimited" instead, without realizing it.

"Cogs Unlimited," A salesman at the warehouse answered.

"Uh, may I speak to Santa Claus, please?" Angelica requested.

"Huh?"

"I need to talk to Santa right away; It's very important."

"Uh, I think you maybe got the wrong..."

"Let me talk to Santa!" She finally shouted.

"Alright!" The salesman decided to play along. "This is Santa Claus. How can I help you?"

"Oh, hi Santa. It's me, Angelica."

"Oh yes, hello, Angelica."

"I just wanted to find out if I'm on the good list, or the bad list this year."

"Hmm, let me check with one of my elves," The salesman paused, "Oh yes, Angelica; You're on the... oh yes, you're on the _bad_ list." She stiffened up at that. "Thanks for calling."

She then dropped the phone in despair after "Santa" hung up. "It's over, Cynthia. My future as a kid is over."

Outside, Friar Tuck was climbing up a ladder to the chimney, practically huffing and puffing in exhaustion. "Phew! Oh boy. That Santa guy must be in good shape," He remarked to himself.

Meanwhile, Stu had walked in through the front door, his arms full of presents, but he tripped over the garland that was set up by the toddlers! "Guys, our traps!" Tommy exclaimed after hearing the ruckus. "Come on!" They jumped out of the cribs, and rushed into the living room, where they saw Stu picking up the boxes he dropped.

"Oh! It was only your daddy, Tommy!" Shenzi pointed out.

"Boy, for a minute there I was getting really scared," Chuckie remarked, as they walked up to the tree, "I thought it was Santa. I'm glad it was only..." He stopped when he saw somebody fall in the fireplace. "AAH!" He screamed. "It's him!" Shenzi quickly held the fireplace doors shut with a fire poker. "What are we gonna do, you guys?! What are we gonna do?!"

"Hey! Hello, Stu! let me outta here!" Friar Tuck yelled after realizing the doors were stuck. "Hey!" The toddlers screamed in fear, and after he crawled out, covered in soot, they scattered. "Shenzi! Shenzi, wait!" The black-haired girl tried to hide in the corner in fear. She didn't remember Santa being so... dark! It was scary! She was wrong the whole time! Chuckie was right! "It's okay, Shenzi." Friar Tuck took off his hat and fake beard, then his gloves to wipe the soot off his face, revealing his true identity. "It's just... me." She peeked out from behind her hands nervously, with a little babble of confusion. The rest of the adults watched for her reaction, hoping for the best, as did Tommy, Chuckie, and the twins from behind a chair. Fortunately, Shenzi ran up to him, and giggled as she hugged his leg. He lifted her up as she managed to relac, no longer frightened. "Oh, Shenzi." The adults awwwed at the sweet father-daughter moment.

"That's not Santa," Phil pointed out.

"That's just Shenzi's dad," Chuckie added.

"There is no Santa!" Angelica exclaimed. "I'm saved!"

When the doorbell rang, Lou went to answer it, and who was there? "Santa!" Angelica gulped nervously.

"A little problem with a chimney, hmm?"

"Oh, Santa!" Drew greeted him in a "fake" tone, mistaking him for the actor. Boy, was he in for a surprise. "Won't you come in?"

Santa then walked in the cabin and to the kids. "Merry Christmas, Tommy, Phil, Lil, Shenzi!" He gave them each a present, the latter staying in her father's arms. "Aren't you guys up past your bedtime?" He then approached the little redhead, and gave a present to him. "Merry Christmas, Chuckie. Still think I'm so scary?" He then approached Angelica, who gave him a delighted grin and a thumbs-up. "Ah, Angelica." He gave a large box to her, and she eagerly tore off the wrapping paper.

"A Deluxe Cynthia Beach House with Real Working Hot Tub, Satellite Dish, Entertainment Center, & Attached Garage!" She rambled joyously. "I _didn't_ get a lump of coal!"

Santa chuckled at her excitement. "You know, sometimes trying to be good is as important as being good in the first place." He then headed for the door. "Well, gotta go. Another 900 million children on my list. Ho ho ho ho ho!" He then left the cabin.

"Well, since it is almost morning anyway, why don't we all open our presents?" Didi suggested, and they proceeded to do just that. Tommy spun his new spinning top toy, as Chuckie hugged his new teddy bear. Shenzi held up her new black sleeveless dress that read "not all girls wear pink" in white letters.

Meanwhile, Phil and Lil exchanged presents, and opened them. "Gee, thanks Lil!" Phil thanked him, before he saw what was in the box. "A Reptar space helmet," He said glumly.

"A box of crayons," Lil remarked in the same sad tone.

"What's wrong, Lil?" He asked her.

"I gave... never mind," She hesitated.

"You mean you...?" Phil drew out in surprised.

"Did you trade Angelica your Reptar doll just to give me these crayons?" She asked him.

"And you traded your coloring book to get my Reptar space helmet," Phil concluded.

"Thanks!" They said simultaneously in grateful tones.

"Ahem!" Angelica got their attention. "Merry Christmas!" She held two wrapped presents to the twins, and they opened them immediately.

"My Reptar doll!" Phil exclaimed.

"My coloring book!" Lil added joyously.

"Thanks, Angelica!" They hugged her simultaneously.

"Ew, baby germs!" She laughed, feeling good about her actions.

Tommy, Chuckie, and now Shenzi were sitting on the floor together with their presents. "You know, guys?" Chuckie addressed them. "You were right. Santa isn't such a bad guy after all."

"We told ya," Shenzi giggled, and Tommy nodded.

"Hey Drew, you were right," Chaz admitted, and Friar Tuck nodded in agreement, "It was better getting a professional Santa."

"Am I ever wrong?" He asked them, but just then, the phone rang. "Hello?" He answered it, and waited for a second or two. "Yeah, this is Drew Pickles."

"Mr. Pickles, this is Barney Stevenson, "The Santa Experience"," The grey-haired man answered, as he prepared milk and cookies in his kitchen, wearing only a robe, "I'm calling from my car phone; you see, my car skidded off the road an I'm not gonna be able to make it tonight to do the Santa thing," He lied, "Can we reschedule?" There was no response. "Mr. Pickles?"

"What do you mean you can't make it?!" Drew yelled angrily, making him hold the phone back.

"I hate Christmas," Barney grumbled as he hung up, then slumped in his recliner.

"Who was that?" Friar Tuck asked Drew. "Oh, wouldn't you know it? The guy I hired to play Santa can't make it," Drew explained irritably, "He..." He stopped upon hearing jingling bells out of nowhere.

"Who's that?" Chaz asked them both in wonder.

On the floor, Angelica was admiring the new playhouse she received. "What a great house! I wonder if there's a car in the attached garage?" She went to look, but instead of a toy car, there was a small lump of coal in it! She gasped with shock, before Didi approached her.

"Angelica? Is that a lump of coal?" She asked her, but the blonde girl stayed quiet in surprise.

"Hey, wouldn't you know?" Betty said to Charlotte, who was finally off of her phone, since it was quite early. "The pups are under the mistletoe."

"Oh Betty, they don't understand it," Charlotte pointed out.

"They don't understand it," Betty smirked to herself.

"What's miss toe?" Tommy wondered aloud.

"When people are under miss toe, they have to kiss," Angelica explained, in too much shock over the coal to be mean to them.

"Ohh!" Shenzi nodded, then shrugged. "Okay then." She then gently grabbed Chuckie's shoulders, and kissed him on the cheek. He couldn't help but feel stunned, as Tommy's eyebrows perked up in surprise.

"Awww!" The adults drew out after witnessing the scene.

"Ha! I knew they had the right idea!" Betty exclaimed. "They're already looking like a darn sweet couple!"

Shenzi couldn't help but giggle at Chuckie's flushed cheeks. Why was he blushing? All she did was kiss him, because that's what people under mistletoe do! Why did that embarrass Chuckie, if that was what he was feeling? Didn't his daddy ever kiss him? Hers did, for her! She didn't get it, while finding his flustered look funny, and... cute.

* * *

 **(A/N: I hope you liked the slightly extended Sheckie ending, and this whole chapter! You know the disclaimer.)**


	6. Ch 5: Hide and Go Peek

**(A/N: After some writer's block, this one just came to me. This chapter is based off of the episode "Chuckie Loses His Glasses". Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 5

* * *

On a dark, gloomy, rainy day, the tots were gathered at the Pickles residence inside the playpen. They looked out the window as Drew arrived with Angelica, who was jumping in a puddle. "You guys don't think Angelica is still mad about the crayons, do ya?" Chuckie wondered aloud.

"Nah, she probably forgotted about it," Shenzi assured him, "'Sides, you only eated 2 of 'em."

The toddlers watched as Stu answered the door after the bell was rung. "Hey there, bro. Come on in." The father and daughter walked in the house, before Stu picked up Angelica. "How's my favorite little niece?"

"I'm fine," She replied with put-on kindness, "Thank you for asking."

"Bet you're looking forward to playing with your little friends, huh?" Stu followed her into the living room, where the playpen was.

"Of course, Uncle Stu; I love playing with the babies," She patted Chuckie's head.

"What a great little girl," Stu remarked.

"Isn't she?" Drew agreed with him. "Okay cupcake, Daddy and Uncle Stu have something very important to watch on TV, so you be a good girl, and play nicely."

"Of course, Daddy," Angelica agreed to do so, with her fingers crossed behind her back.

"Boy, it's raining cats and dogs out there," Stu pointed out, before he and Drew left the room.

"Did you hear that?" Phil asked the other toddlers, so they all looked out the window excitedly.

"It's raining cats and dogs!" Lil added.

"I don't see any cats or dogs," Tommy pointed out.

"Me neither," Shenzi added, "Alls I see is water."

"It's just a 'spression, you dummies!" Angelica exclaimed. "First I get stuck with you babies all afternoon, and now I have to stay inside because of this stupid rain!"

"Maybe we should find a nice game to play inside," Chuckie suggested.

"Like what? You wanna eat the rest of my crayons?!" He hid behind Shenzi at Angelica's intimidating anger.

"How about "Hide and Go Peek"?" Shenzi suggested.

"That game's too scary," Chuckie protested, "You have to be all by yourself when everybody hides."

"Yeah, it's a stupid ga..." Angelica stopped when a devious idea came in her mind. "Wait a minute; Scary, huh? Yes, I think "Hide and Go Peek" is exactly the right game, and I'll figure out who's going to be it." She opened the playpen, and walked inside. "Now, up against the wall!" She yelled at them, and they fearfully obeyed her command. "Eeney meenie miney mo." She started pointing at Chuckie, Shenzi, Tommy, Phil, and Lil in turn to decide. "Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers, let him go. Eeney meenie miney mo." When she ended up choosing Tommy, she decided to go longer. "... And my mother says to pick the very best one, and you are not, not, not, not it!" She "coincidentally" stopped at Chuckie, who reacted with fear. "Well, whaddaya know?" Angelica feigned surprise. "You're it, Chuckie!"

"I don't wanna be it!" Chuckie hid behind the curtain in protest.

"It was your idea to play this game," Lil pointed out.

"No, it was mine," Shenzi told her.

"Oh yeah."

"Okay, I'm counting," He gave in, and covered his eyes.

"Wait a minute! You could still see us!" Angelica exclaimed. "Take off your eyes, and turn around."

"My eyes? But I can't take 'em off."

"Then you don't get to play with us."

"C'mon, Chuckie. It's just your extra eyes," Tommy coaxed him.

"Yeah, you'll be okay," Shenzi added.

"Okay, okay," Chuckie gave in as he took off his glasses, "But only while I'm counting, 'cause I don't like doing it." He set them on the window sill close by, and covered his eyes. "1, 2, 3, 4, um..." Tommy ran behind a plant, while the twins hid under the couch. "7, 6, 8, 2, 3, 6, 8, 7..." As Shenzi hid behind one of the curtain drapes, Angelica sneaked up and snatched his glasses away. "3, 5, 10." After he finished counting, he felt around the window sill for his glasses, but to his confusion, he couldn't find them anywhere. When he looked around, the whole world looked blurry, before the playpen seemingly turned into a giant set of teeth. He fearfully ran out of the playpen, and panted after he was free. "Okay, I didn't see that." When he turned to a potted plant, it seemingly turned into a tentacled monster. "Hel-l-l-l-lp! Where are you, Tommy, Shenzi?! Phil, Lil, Angelica?! Come out here, I need help!"

"Hey, Phil, it sounds like Chuckie's in trouble," Lil whispered to her twin brother, "Maybe we should help him?"

"No, Lil," He said otherwise, "Chuckie's trying to trick us."

"Phil, Lil, is that you?" Chuckie walked to the couch with his hands out and his eyes closed.

"Shhh," Phil made his twin sister stay quiet.

The redhead suddenly fell onto a foot-rest with wheels, and hit the wall. When he looked at the plant Tommy was hiding behind, it turned into a monster like the first one. "Aaah! Somebody help me! I can't see! Well, I can see a little," He admitted to himself, before he saw the couch turn into a scary clown. "I want my eyes!" He hastily backed away, but tripped and landed on a squeaky bone-shaped toy. That got Spike's attention, but when he ran up to Chuckie, he seemingly turned into a monster. "Help! It's a monster! Get away from me-e-e- Hey, it's you, Spike!" He exclaimed when the dog was close enough to him. "Boy, am I glad to see you. I mean, I wish I could see you." Chuckie then jumped on his back, facing away from his head. "Spike, find Tommy. Or Shenzi; Whoever you see first." The dog then started running around the house with the toddler in tow, stopping at the staircase. "Uh, Spike, are you sure this is the right way?" He barely spotted a teddy bear next to him. "Tommy? Shenzi?" When he saw that he was mistaken, he dropped the bear as Spike walked off.

"Hey, you guys," Tommy peeked out from his hiding spot, as Shenzi pushed the curtain back.

"Shhh, he'll hear us," Phil and Lil whispered.

"Listen, Chuckie's been gone a really long time," Tommy came out of hiding, along with the twins, "Maybe we should go find him?"

"We should," Shenzi nodded, coming out of her hiding spot as well, "I'm worried about him."

"But this is "Hide and Go Peek"," Phil pointed out, "He's supposed to find us."

"Yeah, or else we're the peekers," Lil added.

"But guys, he may be in trouble," Tommy said in concern.

"Hey, where's Angelica?" Lil wondered aloud.

"Hmm, she's probably still hiding," Tommy guessed.

"Aw, we're gonna have to find her too?" Phil griped a bit.

"Nah, let her find herself," Shenzi replied indifferently.

"Come on," Tommy led the three toddlers in their mission to find their redheaded friend.

Meanwhile, Spike walked in the kitchen with Chuckie still on his back, and started eating out of his bowl. Angelica watched secretly from the counter with an evil plan in mind; She held out the toy bone, and made it squeak to get his attention. "Spi-i-ike," She called out, then threw the toy outside, where it was still raining outside, so Spike ran after it.

Chuckie had slipped off of the dog's back, so he held onto his tail as tightly as he could. "Slow down Spike!"

Angelica laughed evilly to herself as she watched the scene from the patio. "Slow down, Spike!" She mimicked Chuckie. "Too bad you don't have these!" She held up Chuckie's glasses, then put them on her own face. Suddenly, the whole world looked distorted as she spun around. "Whoa, wo-o-o-ow, whoa!"

Meanwhile, the other toddlers were searching for the redhead in the living room. "Chuckie!" Phil looked under the foot rest.

"Chuckie!" Lil tried the cupboard.

"Chuckie!" Tommy was swinging on the clown lamp, and turned it on, before sliding down to the floor.

"Chuckie!" Shenzi looked behind the TV.

"We'll never find him!" Phil exclaimed in defeat.

"He's gone!" Lil added.

"What's gonna happen to all his toys?" Phil wondered aloud.

"I wonder if I could have 'em," Lil guessed.

"I thought of it first," Phil started an argument.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Hey, guys!" Tommy pushed them to the floor, ending the argument. "He can't just disappear! We gotta keep lookin'!"

"Let's split up!" Shenzi suggested. "You guyses look in there," She pointed to the kitchen, "I'll keep looking in here." After they split up, she started searching all the hiding places in the living room; Under the couch, behind the drapes, behind all the plants.

"Spike, it's raining," Chuckie pointed out upon noticing, "Hey, we're outside, aren't we, Spike? Spike, we're not supposed to be outside. Spike, I don't think you're trying very hard to find Tommy, or Shenzi." The dog chewed on his toy ignorantly. "If you're not gonna help me, I'm just gonna have to go find them myself." He headed for the house, but was flipped by the swing when he walked into it. After recovering, he seemingly saw Tommy and the twins by the fence. "Tommy, Phil, Lil, there you are! You guys won't believe what happened!" But as it turns out, he was unknowingly talking to three plants instead. "Remember when I took off my eyes to count to ten? Well, I couldn't see and then things got scary of course, and there were monsters..."

In the living room, Shenzi was searching under the couch cushions when she saw something interesting: Angelica, wearing Chuckie's glasses. "Hey! Angelica!" She jumped on the floor, and ran to her. "Those are Chuckie's eyes, not yours! Give 'em!" She snatched them off her face, and ran away.

"Hey! Give those back!" Angelica ran after her, but the younger girl managed to block her off with one of the couch cushions, so she escaped. She growled in anger, before a nauseating headache flared up, making her groan.

Shenzi ran all over the house, looking for the "eyes"' owner, even going up the stairs. "Guys, Angelica had Chuckie's eyes!" She exclaimed to Tommy and the twins when passing by the kitchen walkway.

"So then I bumped right into a soft thing with four legs and guess who it was? Spike!" Chuckie was still talking to the plants. "Yeah! Isn't that great?" He was confused when they didn't respond. "Tommy? Phil? Lil? Don't you think that's great?" Still nothing. "Wait, where's Shenzi at? Is she still inside?" He pulled some leaves off the bush in the middle, and dropped them in disgust. "Tommy, I think you need a new diaper." He looked closer, and saw that he was actually talking to plants. "Waaa!" He exclaimed in shock. "You're not Tommy! It's no use." He walked away from the bushes. "I'll never find anyone without my eyes." He laid face-down on the swing in despair.

In the house, Shenzi was still in the living room, while Tommy and the twins searched under the table and chairs, in the trash can, and inside all the cabinets, but no luck. "Where could he be?" Lil wondered aloud.

"He could be anywhere!" Phil added.

"He has to be here somewhere," Tommy told them, "He can't just disappear."

"I hope Shenzi's having better luck than us," Lil remarked.

Outside, Chuckie was walking around in the wet grass, with his hands out. "I gotta find my eyes! I gotta find...!" He stopped when he suddenly heard a crunch; He looked down, and saw what looked like his glasses. "Oh no! My eyes!" He tossed them behind his back after some of the cracked lenses fell. "Now I'm never gonna see again!" He started crying in despair.

In the living room, Shenzi shot up from looking under the couch upon hearing wails. "Chuckie?" She looked out the patio door, and saw him on his back, his arms and legs flailing. "Chuckie! Chuckie! Guys, he's outside!" As Tommy and the twins watched, she ran outside through the patio doorway, his glasses in careful tow. When he looked up, he just barely saw her run up to him. "Chuckie! I found your eyes! Chuckie! Here, put these on!" She put his glasses on his face for him.

"My eyes! I can see!" He exclaimed with joy. "I thought they were broked. I stepped on them, and made them go crunch."

"Come on, let's go inside," Shenzi led him to the house, their hands intertwined, where the others were waiting. "Wait, where's Angelica at?" She was answered by the blonde girl moaning in pain, with her hands on her stomach.

When Drew walked in the kitchen, he saw her walking groggily. "Honey, you look a little sick." Just then, Angelica threw up on his front. "Oh no! All over my new sweater!" He exclaimed. "Oh, come on. Let's clean this up." He took her to the bathroom as the toddlers watched.

"Hey, Chuckie?" Tommy turned to the redhead.

"Yeah?" He looked at him.

"If Angelica had your eyes the whole time, then what were those eyes you stepped on, and broke?"

They saw Lou stumbling around in the living room, his glasses missing. "Now, where in tarnation did I put my specs?" He walked up to the clown lamp, and mistook it for his daughter-in-law. "Oh, Didi, have you seen my glasses?" The toddlers stifled giggles at the scene before them.

* * *

 **(A/N: I hope this was a good one! You know the disclaimer.)**


	7. Ch 6: Land of Many Waters

**(A/N: Phew! It's finally done! Sorry I took so long with this. A cold and writer's block are at fault. This is based on the Rugrats episode "Heat Wave". Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 6

* * *

One day, it seemed like the sun was closer to the Earth... much closer. It was blistering hot outside. Instead of her usual attire, Shenzi wore black cutoff shorts that reached her mid-thighs, a purple camisole with a ruffled neckline, black rhinestone flower sandals, and had her hair tied with purple bow bands in two high pigtails, similar to Angelica's, who was thankfully at the town pool with her parents.

Lou was taking Tommy, Chuckie, Shenzi, the twins, and Spike to the park on this day, with Tommy and the twins riding in a red wagon, and the two-year-olds plus the dog following closely on foot. "Phew! It's a real scorcher today, isn't it, sprouts? I haven't felt this hot since the summer of '42." They passed by two construction workers, who were working on an underground pipe. "Tell you what? You young'ns go play in the grass, and I'll just keep an eye on ya from over here." Lou walked over to the workers. "Hey there! Boys! Fixin' a pipe, are ya?"

The toddlers walked to the front of the swingset, with Chuckie pulling the now empty wagon. "Boy, you guys, I never felt the air this hot before," Chuckie remarked.

"Me neither," Shenzi agreed, "I'm glad my daddy putted me in these new clothes. They're much cooler than my jammies."

"My mouth is so dry, I can't even spit." Tommy tried to do so, but nothing came out.

Chuckie tried to spit as well, but had the same result. "Hey, me too."

"Hey, let's get a drink of water from the big fountain like Spike," Tommy suggested, and they went to do just that.

Chuckie came up first, but when Tommy turned the nozzle, the redhead was sprayed in the face. "Hey!" Tommy, Shenzi and the twins laughed as water dripped down from his hair.

"Sorry Chuckie," Tommy managed to apologize to him.

"That's okay," Chuckie took off his glasses, "It felt kind of good." When Tommy turned the water back on, so it ran like normal, Chuckie took a couple sips, then jumped down.

Shenzi hopped on the wagon for her turn, and gripped the fountain. "Tommy, can you spray my face, like you did with Chuckie?" She requested.

"I'll try," Tommy turned the nozzle, and the black-haired girl received a cooling squirt.

"Thanks!" After taking her drink, she jumped down on the ground, so Phil and Lil stepped up.

When they leaned in at the same time, their heads collided. "Out of the way, Philip! It's my turn!"

"Is not, Lillian!" He argued.

"Is too, Phi-lip!" She then went, and took a long sip.

"You'll drink up all the water!" Phil pushed her away, then took a long sip.

"No, you are!"

"No, _you_ are!"

"Then in '53, I joined the pipe fitters," Lou was telling the construction workers one of his stories.

"Oh Sal, look at the time," One of the workers looked at his watch.

"Gracious me, is it already time for our mid-morning, pre-lunch break?" The workers climbed out of the hole. "Eh, sorry, Pops; We've gotta quit for a while. It's a... Union thing; You'd understand."

"Oh, yeah, yeah! Sure, sure! You boys go on; I'll just stay here, and watch your hole for ya." Lou then noticed that the wrench was still on the pipe. "Hey, you forgot...!" He then laughed it off. "Youngesters; Don't know nothin' about nothin'." Lou jumped in the hole at the pipe. "I'll just give 'em a hand." He pulled at the wrench, but ended up releasing the screw, making water spray out.

"Now you're going to drink up all the water, Lillian!" Phil griped to Lil. But when he went to take another sip, the water stopped coming out of the fountain.

"Oops," The twins mumbled simultaneously.

Tommy tried to turn the nozzle, but nothing came out. "Hey, you guys really did drink all the water!"

Chuckie gasped in horror, as Shenzi's eyes widened. "We're doomed! We're doomed! First the heat, then no water! Then...!"

"Hey, look!" Shenzi pointed to the horizon, and a baby dressed in middle eastern garb came riding up on a worm on wheels.

He stopped at the sidewalk, and hopped on the ground. "Hello, babies. I am Sabu. I have come to drink out of the fountain."

"Hi, Sabu," Tommy greeted him, "I'm Tommy. This is Chuckie, Shenzi, Phil, and Lil." He gestured to each of the toddlers as he introduced them and himself. "I like your worm."

"It is a comet. His name is Arnth. And we are both very thirsty. If you were finished, we would like to drink from the fountain."

"Um, s-sorry Sabu, there's no more water. We're all out," Shenzi broke the news to him.

Sabu gasped in shock. "No more water?! Oh, this is bad!" He jumped on the wagon and turned the nozzle, but no water came out. "Very, very bad! Water is the most importantest thing in the whole wild world! It's more important than cookies. It's even more important than our Reptar. We are doomed! Doomed, I tell you!"

"I think I'm going to like this guy," Chuckie remarked to Shenzi and Tommy.

"But Sabu, this can't be the onliest water in the whole playground," Tommy protested.

"You are right, my friend. There is other water; It is in a place far, far from here. Where water shoots from the ground, as if it be from the backs of many whales." The toddlers showed fascination at that. "What is land of many waters lies across the blacktop playground, where no baby has ever gone before... without a grown-up." The tots gulped nervously. "It is a terrible place for babies. Once we start across, we cannot stop for anything." Sabu jumped on the ground, and walked to the blacktop. "There is no place to hide from the sun, and if we do not cross quickly, the sunburn will turn your skin red, and it will sting."

"Um, maybe we should just stay here," Chuckie suggested.

"We cannot," Sabu shook his head, "Soon, it'll be no shadow time, and even here, we will get the sunburns."

"Besides Chuckie," Tommy came up to them, "If we stay here, we'll get first year, and first year, and then we'll all get sunburns."

Sabu jumped back on his worm, and headed for the blacktop after kicking its sides as if it were a horse. Tommy repeated his actions with Spike, then followed him with Chuckie, Shenzi, and the twins. As they walked, with Chuckie pulling Phil and Lil in the wagon, everyone except Sabu was getting exhausted from the searing heat. Sabu rode up next to Tommy, and held an unused diaper to him. "Huh? What's this?"

"Put this on. It will protect your hairless head from the sunburn." Tommy put the diaper on his head and continued riding on Spike, too exhausted to thank him.

"They sure don't make these things like they used to," Lou remarked as the hole was flooding at a rapid pace.

On the blacktop, Tommy was now walking, but then stopped. Sabu slowed his worm to a stop, and had the others stop as well. Tommy took a grape juice box out of his diaper and took a sip, then lent it to Sabu. Shenzi, Phil, Lil, and Spike received some as well, but when Chuckie went to drink some, there was none left. When he accidentally squeezed the box too hard, the last few drops squirted out on his face. In frustration, he started to cry. "What's wrong, Chuckie?" Shenzi walked up to him in concern.

"I'm thirsty, and I'm hot, and I'm tired, and I wanna go home!" He ranted after sitting on the blacktop. Spike licked his face, to Chuckie's dismay.

"Quit it, Spike," Tommy ordered the dog, "Leave Chuckie alone. Come on, boy; Get down. Let Chuckie ride in it for a while." Spike looked confused, but walked out of the wagon, so Chuckie sat in it. "There you go. You rest in the wagon; It'll be okay."

"No it won't, Tommy," Chuckie protested, "I'm going to be hot and thirsty for the rest of forever." Tommy felt sympathy, but didn't know what to say.

"No you won't, Chuckie," Shenzi walked up to the wagon, "We'll find the land of many waters; I know it. Come on, guys. Let's keep going."

* * *

They kept trekking through the blistering hot area, with Tommy now pulling the wagon, Shenzi just behind Chuckie, and the twins riding on Spike's back. Tommy stopped walking when something caught his eye. "Hey, you guys, look! Up ahead!" A distance away, looking very small, was an igloo!

"What is that thing?" Chuckie asked him.

"Uh, I think it's uh... it is!" Tommy exclaimed. "It is! It's a igloo!" But when he ran up to the snow structure, it turned out to be a flattened volleyball.

"Where'd the igloo go?" Phil wondered aloud.

"It must have melted," Lil guessed.

"But I saw it," Tommy said in distress, "It was here one minute, then the next minute, it turns into this stupid ball!"

Chuckie jumped out of the wagon, now angry, and ran up to the volleyball. "Turn back, you stupid ball! Turn back into a igloo!"

"Chuckie, stop," Sabu walked up to them, "It is just a mirage."

"I know a igloo when I see one; This was an igloo! Not a mirage, or whatever you call it!"

"No, Chuckie. A mirage is something that looks like something, but then it turns into something else."

"Kind of like when our dad makes breafast," Phil remarked to Lil.

"Stupid mirage," Tommy kicked the ball in frustration, "Let's go!"

Chuckie picked up the ball, and put it on his head. "What're you doing, Chuckie?" Shenzi asked him.

"I want it to be nearby, just in case the mirage decides to turn back into a igloo," Chuckie explained, sounding a bit delirious.

Meanwhile, the two workers came back to the hole, only to find it flooded. "Hey! What the-?!"

"Oh, hi fellas!" Lou greeted them, then held up the wrench. "You left this down in the hole! Good thing I was here!" The workers frantically went to fix the problem.

On the blacktop, the tots were still on their journey to the "land of many waters". Tommy was now on Spike's back, with the twins walking, and Shenzi pulling the wagon. "Sabu, look!" Tommy exclaimed, waking the said baby.

"Huh, what?"

"Over there!" Tommy pointed to a couple of basketball hoops. "Is it real, or is it another one of those mirage things?"

"That is no mirage. We have reached the middle of the blacktop playground."

"Good," The twins sighed in relief.

"Hey, where's Chuckie? He was supposed to be riding in the wagon!" Tommy pointed out in concern.

"I was wondering why it felt so light," Shenzi remarked guiltily, "I should've checked on him."

"Chuckie's lost somewhere on the blacktop playground!" Tommy exclaimed. "I have to go back for him! Come on, Spike!" He jumped on Spike's back, and kicked his sides to get him walking.

"Wait! I'll go too!" Shenzi jumped on the dog's back from the wagon, surprising both him and his baby friend.

"They are brave babies," Sabu remarked to Phil and Lil as Spike ran off, "Or else very, very silly ones."

Chuckie was on the basketball court, now feeling completely delirious from the heat. "That's better," He muttered to himself, "That's ri-eheheheheh!" He started rocking back and forth. "In the igloohoohoohoo! Brrr! Chilly."

Sabu and the twins watched and cheered as Tommy, Shenzi, and Spike slowly came back with Chuckie on the dog's back. Phil and Lil ran to Spike and Chuckie, as Tommy came up to the Arabian baby. "You see, Sabu? I told you we could do it."

"Yes, yes you were right," Sabu tore off a bit of fabric from his headpiece. "This day on, you will be known as Al Tommy." He tied it into a crown, and put it on Tommy's head, keeping the diaper in place.

"Gee thanks, Sabu."

"Wow; Al Tommy," Phil recited his name.

"And now, my friends, we must keep going. The time of no shadows is getting closer." Soon, after more agonizing minutes of walking, they finally made it! They cheered as they ran on the grass, and relished the slight coolness. "We did it, Al Tommy! We have reached the land of many waters!"

"Uh, Sabu?"

"Yes, Al Tommy?"

"Shouldn't there be water shootin' up from the ground, as if from the backs of many whales?"

"Oh my goodness, you are right. This is the land, but where are the many waters?"

"Maybe the ground is plugged up."

"Yes, that must be it! We must find a way to unplug it."

As Chuckie, Shenzi, and Spike slept in the shade provided by the basketball hoop, Phil and Lil walked up to them. "All of a sudden, I'm getting sleepy," Lil remarked, with her eyelids drooping.

"Yeah, me too," Phil yawned. He and Lil rested up against Spike's back, then fell asleep.

"No, babies. We cannot sleep here," Sabu protested, waking the twins, "We must find something to unplug the ground with."

Tommy took the empty juice box from his diaper and pulled out the straw. "Will this work?"

"I don't know; Maybe. But hurry, Al Tommy. It's almost the time of no shadows."

At another area in the park, the construction workers were trying to scoop the water out of the hole, with Lou watching.

Tommy and Sabu walked up to a baseball diamond, while Chuckie, Shenzi, Spike, and the twins slept in the shade. "Try here," Sabu panted, and Tommy stabbed the area with his straw, "Now here." Tommy repeated the action, but they were getting too exhausted to continue. "So tired... can't go on... must nap." Sabu laid in the grass.

"Here comes the sunburn," Tommy panted.

Meanwhile, the two workers threw in the towel on fixing the pipe. Now determined, Lou took the wrench and the screw, dove into the hole, and screwed it back in.

Tommy mustered up the strength to stab the straw in what was a sprinkler, and finally collapsed in the grass. Just then, the pipe had been fixed, and water started spraying out! Sabu and the others were woken up by the sudden, refreshing drops, and ran around the sprinklers.

"All fixed," Lou climbed out of the hole, "Good as new!" He spit out some water. "And I hope you learned your lesson about leaving tools laying around!" The workers blinked in confusion, but stayed quiet.

As Chuckie, Shenzi, and the twins played in the water, Sabu climbed on his worm. "Al Tommy, you are truly a wonder. I hope that our paths may cross again someday."

"You're pretty wonderful yourself, Al Sabu."

With that, Sabu started riding down the sidewalk, with Tommy watching as a rainbow formed in the sky.

* * *

 **(A/N: Hope you enjoyed! You know the disclaimer.)**


	8. Ch 7: Renaissance Babies

**(A/N: Okay so, this one came to me pretty quickly. It's based off the episode "Faire Play". Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 7

* * *

"And so the good knight drew his deadly sword, and slayed the dragon," Lou read out loud from a storybook. He, along with Stu and Didi were taking Tommy, Chuckie, Shenzi, Phil, and Lil to a Renaissance festival.

"Pop! You promised!" Didi scolded him. "No scary stories!"

"Fine!" Lou grudgingly continued. "So the big strong knight, um, kissed a harmless, little magic frog..." He kissed one of the toy frogs that were suction-cupped on the windows. "And received his wish of... happiness, and the dragon flew away, and what not." He put frog back on the window. "The end. There," He turned to Didi, "Is that mamby-pamby enough for ya?"

"That was very nice, Pop."

"Fairytale Land sounds fun," Phil remarked.

"Yeah!" Tommy agreed. "In Fairytale Land, they ride horsies, and play all the time, and..."

"Kiss magic frogs," Lil finished.

"Yeah! I wish we _was_ in Fairytale Land," Phil pulled the toy frog off the window to his left, and went to kiss it, but Chuckie stopped him.

"Don't do it, Phil!"

"Why not?"

"You don't know where that froggy's been."

Phil pondered on that, before speaking again. "I don't care! I wish we was in Fairytale Land." He then kissed the frog.

Just then, the car drove in a tunnel, the toddlers staring in awe at the lights lining it, before they arrived at the 457th Annual Renaissance Festival. "Wow!" They all exclaimed, before the car drove through the castle gate and among the booths.

"Phil, you did it!" Shenzi praised the brunette twin.

"You wished us right into Fairy Land!" Tommy added.

"Wow! It looks just like the pictures in the book," Lil remarked.

"Yeah!" Tommy agreed. "There's a castle, and horsies, and knights, and..."

"Oh, this is bad," Chuckie cut him off fearfully.

"What's wrong, Chuckie?" Shenzi asked him.

"What's wrong? Well, if they've got castles and horsies and knights, then they've probably got dragons too, and dragons eat people, guys!" He ranted.

"Don't be ascared, Chuckie," Shenzi tried to comfort him, "If there were dragons, we would have seen one by now." None of the kids saw the metal dragon under the tarp behind the car.

After they arrived at the "Ye Olde Parking Lot", Stu and Lou pulled the rope off the tarp as Didi set the kids on the grass, keeping Tommy in her arm with the twins in the stroller. Shenzi and Chuckie were standing in the grass. "I'm taking the kids in now," She told the two men at work, "Are you two going to be okay in that thing?"

"We'll be just fine, Deed," Stu assured her, "Just because it exploded in the basement..."

"Please take me with you!" Lou begged her desperately.

"Pop!" Didi then headed for the castle gate with the kids. "It's taken me four years, but I think I've finally cracked the secret to the perfect dragon: duel controls."

"Oh, you've cracked something, alright."

Stu whipped off the tarp, revealing the metal dragon. "The kids are going to love this."

Didi came out of the "Ye Olde Costume Shoppe", with the kids now dressed up. Tommy was a knight, the twins were jesters, with Phil being in blue with green shoes and Lil in pink, Chuckie was a yellow and blue clad prince, and surprisingly, instead of being a princess, Shenzi was a monk, her robe bearing almost an exact resemblance to her father's. "Now, we'll get you kids into Ye Olde Daycare." She was initially surprised that the two-year-old girl had made a beeline for the monk costume instead of one for a princess, but then understood almost immediately. She thought it was adorable, and managed to take a picture with her camera.

"Hey, Shenzi?" Chuckie turned to her as they walked.

"Yeah?" She looked at him.

"How come you didn't want to be a princess?"

"Well," She gazed downward, "When I sawed this, I thinked of my daddy, and decided to choose it."

"Ohh."

They stopped when the king and queen of the festival were escorted to their thrones, as the kids watched in awe. "Wow!" Some trumpeters played their instruments for the arrival of the knight.

"And now, let the jousting tournaments beginnith!"

"Oh, look!" Didi spoke up. "It's the good knight." The costumed man rode his horse to his opponent as the twins watched in awe.

"What're you looking for, Chuckie?" Shenzi asked the redhead when she saw him looking around nervously.

"If there's a knight, there's got to be a dragon around here somewhere!"

At the festival owner's office, his secretary came in. "Uh, Mr. Koch? Your dragon is here."

"Boy, I hope Pickles didn't go overboard again this year." Mr. Koch pulled the window blinds up, and saw Stu hauling Lou inside the metal dragon through the mouth.

"Man overboard," The secretary remarked.

Stu went to start the dragon's engine, but soot shot out on his face. "Can't we fire him?"

"He's a volunteer, sir."

"Well, you get what you pay for." With that, he closed the blinds.

Meanwhile, Didi had stopped in front of the castle gate for the daycare center, but it was closed. "Oh, uh, raiseth thy gate, good sir," She tried to speak in Olde English, "That I might droppeth off my ki-kidseth."

"Yeah, whatever, lady," The gate keeper rolled his eyes, then pressed a button to raise the gate.

Didi set the tots in the sandbox. "Okay, kids; You play here. I'll be just over there in the stained glass booth, uh, staining glass." After she left the area, the gate was lowered.

"I like Fairytale Land," Tommy piped up, "They got castles, and funny clothes, and..."

"Dra-dra-dra-dragons!" Chuckie yelled. "AAH!"

They ran to the gate, and saw Stu grasping the metal dragon's teeth. "Wow!"

"Pop, don't play with the buttons!"

"It really _is_ a dragon!" Phil breathed in awe.

"And he's fighting your dad," Lil added to Tommy.

"Your daddy sure is brave!" Shenzi remarked, and Tommy nodded in agreement.

Stu managed to hoist himself into the dragon's mouth, and hang down the neck to where the controls were. "Here, Pop; I'll help you." He pulled a switch, but the dragon's head started bobbing up and down, with his legs sticking out.

"Oh no!" Chuckie exclaimed fearfully. "I think that dragon's eating your dad!"

"Don't be silly, Chuckie. He's probably just..." Tommy was cut off by Stu falling deeper inside the machine, so he completely disappeared. "Oh no! The dragon's eating my dad!" The babies all started crying in despair.

"Pop, push that button on your right," Stu told his father after buckling himself in the seat. But when Lou pushed the red button, the dragon flipped upside down. "Your, your other right."

In the daycare area, the babies walked away from the gate, while still crying. "Way to go, Philip!" Lil turned to her twin.

"What?"

"You're the one that wished us into Fairytale Land," She cried, "You should have known there'd be dragons and stuff, and they would eat Tommy's dad."

"Well, it was your frog, Lillian," Phil argued.

"Well, you kissed it, Philip!"

"Hey, you guys!" Shenzi made them quit. "Stop squattling! Look!" They watched as the knight came riding by.

"The good knight!" Chuckie gasped happily. "I bet he can spray the dragon and save your dad!"

Tommy glanced at the gate. "Come on! We gotta get outta here!"

"Okay now, if I just push in the clutch and pop it into first." Stu started driving the dragon, but crashed into a tree several times. "Ow!"

"Numbskull!" Lou exclaimed in annoyance.

"Ow!"

"Feather brain!"

"Ow!"

"Nincompoop!"

Mr. Koch witnessed the whole thing from his office, and had enough. "That's it! I'm bringing in a professional."

At a kid's birthday party, a man was entertaining the young guests in his Reptar costume when his phone rang. "Hey, that's me."

In the daycare center, Tommy was headbutting the fence, until one board broke down. "See, you guys? All fences have a good place for climbing out. You've just gotta use your head." The toddlers walked through the hole, and out of the area.

"Look, there he is!" Chuckie gestured to the knight. They started running towards him with delight and excitement, and just behind them, the metal dragon burst through the fence, getting the knight's attention.

"Finally, I get to have a little fun," He remarked, before lowering his helmet and charging towards the dragon.

Inside the machine, Stu realized that the toddlers were between him and the knight, and were not moving from their standing places. "Oh no! The kids! Hang on, Pop!" He then started driving the dragon even faster to get the knight away.

The knight's horse started running even faster, surprising his rider. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, big fella."

The toddlers then realized that both the horse and the dragon were heading towards each other, and them! "Oh no, they're coming right at us!" Chuckie ducked down in a panic, after forcing Shenzi behind his back, greatly surprising her. The horse stopped short upon seeing them, so the knight flew off, his joust sticking in the ground.

"Incoming!" Stu yelled out, just before the knight bounced off the dragon's head, and landed in a pond.

The dragon burst back through the fence just in front of the babies. "Oh no! It didn't work!" Lil exclaimed.

"Forget the good knight! Look!" Shenzi pointed to a frog hopping nearby, towards the arena exit.

"A frog!" Lil smiled with joy.

"It might be magic!" Phil guessed.

"Kiss it, Phil!" Chuckie added.

"Come on, you guys!" Tommy led the tots in a chase all around the festival. They first entered the "Ye Olde Playhouse", where the play for Rapunzel was being performed on stage. "Where'd he go?"

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel," The actor recited his lines, "Let down your... frog?" The amphibian had jumped in his hand. "Eugh!" He was surprised to see the babies run across the stage after it. "Huh?"

They even ran in the stained glass booth behind Didi, although she didn't notice them. The frog then jumped in the hand of a juggler who took a bite out of every apple he performed with, one after the other. He saw the frog in his hand just before he could bite it, and tossed it away in managed to catch it in his diaper, but just then, the gate keeper from the daycare center found them. "Aw, there you are." He carried them back to the center. "You little scamps had me lookin' all over the place!" He set them in the grass, then left them be, but the dragon burst through the gate just after it closed. The toddlers watched as it destroyed every play structure in the area, and other kids ran for their lives.

"He's already turned my best knight into a rusty pile of scrap, and now look at what he's doing to my playground," Mr. Koch ranted to the Reptar entertainer.

"How many people have to get hurt before they realize that being a guy in a big green suit is no job for an amateur? Look Neville, now it's too late to help him."

"There's an extra ten bucks in it for you if you can stop him."

"Ten bucks?" The entertainer perked up. "Why didn't you say so?" He then put his costume head on, then charged into the playground.

Tommy quickly took the frog out of his diaper, and gave it to Phil. "Phil, wish for the good knight to come back!" Chuckie urged the brunette boy.

"No, wish for the dragon to spit up!" Lil urged him.

"Save my daddy, Phil!" Tommy begged him desperately.

"You know what I really wish? I wish _Reptar_ was here! He could beat anybody!" He then kissed the frog to seal his wish.

"That's a dumb wish, Philip!" Lil jumped up and down in anger, but the entertainer burst through the gate, making them cheer.

Stu was crashing through the festival, when he saw the entertainer running towards them, looking determined. "Help! Hey, hey! Help!" He and Lou yelled to the head, in hopes that the man would hear them.

The man swiftly grabbed the machine by the neck. "Don't worry buddy. I'll get you out of there." He went to crawl in the mouth, but Stu stopped him.

"Come out! It won't open! You need to take off the head!"

The entertainer attempted to do just that, as the toddlers watched. The dragon destroyed the castle gate, making one man jump for his life, before the head was successfully pulled off. The entertainer landed in the grass with the head, as Stu faceplanted in the sandbox. When he pushed himself up, he saw festival patrons, including the kids, cheering for him as Lou crawled out of the machine.

Later on, Lou was sleeping in the car as Stu met with Mr. Koch for everything that happened. "Pickles, that was one heck of a show. Now remember, next year it's you and the Reptar guy. Rematch of the century."

"Great, Mr. Koch. I think by next year, I can fine tune the wing rutters and get this baby flying like a real dragon. Then I can get some real aerodynamic stuff going, you know, wing walking."

In the car, Tommy turned to Phil. "Thanks for saving my dad, Phil."

"Good job," Chuckie added.

"You did so good, Phil," Lil chimed in.

"Uh huh," Shenzi nodded.

"Nah, you can thank Reptar," Phil held his Reptar doll, "He's the real hero."

Outside, the entertainer went back in his "Reptar Party Service" van, and drove away, with the door closed on his tail.

On the way home, Didi showed Stu the picture of Shenzi in her costume. He too was initially surprised that she didn't go for a princess, but then understood her reasons. "Her father is going to love seeing this."

* * *

 **(A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! You know the disclaimer. I had to put Shenzi in a monk costume; I just had to. X3)**


	9. Ch 8: The Masked Detective

**(A/N: Sorry this took a while! Why am I always procrastinating with chapters for this story? This is based off the episode "Radio Daze". Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 8

* * *

On a regular day, Stu and Didi were sitting at the kitchen, Stu stirring ice cubes in his coffee, when Lou rushed in with a newspaper in hand. "Stu, Didi! I've got great news! They're bringing back the Masked Detective!"

"That's nice, Pop. Who was he?" Stu tried to show interest.

"It's a radio show I used to listen to when I was a sprout," Lou explained, "Back before the war. How's about we all head up to my room, and listen to it together?"

"Aw, gee Pop, that radio stuff is so boring," Stu griped.

"It's not boring!" Lou glared in protest. "You just have to use your imagination!" He then turned to his daughter-in-law. "How about you, Didi? Action, adventure!"

"It sounds very exciting, Pop, but I have to, um..." She tried to think of an excuse, "Repot some dirt. I mean, some flowers," She corrected herself, "Maybe next time."

A dejected Lou walked down the hallway, when he saw Tommy, Chuckie, Shenzi, and the twins playing, while Angelica was watching TV. He then took them all into his room, with Angelica walking behind him, and set the toddlers on his bed. "Kids, we're gonna listen to the "Masked Detective"!" He prepared his radio for the event. "Gotta wait for the tubes warm up. Angelica, you watch these pups while I dig out my old "Junior Snooper" kit."

As he looked, Angelica had an idea. "Hmm, I wonder where he keeps the candy." She looked in his sock drawer, found a small white paper bag, and held it open. "Malted milk balls!"

"So that's where my maltees got to." Lou took the bag out of her hand, and walked to the bed. "Okay kids, one for everybody." He handed a milk ball to everyone, except Shenzi, who was recently discovered to be lactose entolerant. She was usually fed soy milk, for calcium and protein. "Sorry, you can't have milk, little lady. But lucky for you, I've got something without that pesky lactose." He sneaked a yellow gummy bear from the kitchen, and gave it to her. "Here you go, sweetheart." She perked up with excitement, then stuck the gummy bear in her mouth as her friends enjoyed the maltees.

"One? I eat more chocolate than this for breakfast." Angelica griped to herself, but ate it grudgingly.

"And after this message, we will return to tonight's episode, "The Case of The Stolen Rocket Pellets"," The radio host announced.

"I remember that one," Lou remarked, "Madam Evil and her gang want to steal Professor Oldenheimer's secret rocket pellets. And if the Masked Detective can't stop her," He held a mask from the box to his eyes, "It'd be the end of the world before we know it." He gave it to Tommy, who looked intrigued. Lou took out an old comic book, and pointed to one picture. "There he is! The Masked Detective!" The kids came closer for a look.

"Who's he?" Angelica asked him.

"He's the one who goes into the dark underbelly of the big city, to track down the bad guys," Lou explained to them, "And look; There's the worst crook of them all: Madam Evil."

"Madam Evil?" Angelica was interested. "What does she do?"

"She's a crook; She takes things that don't belong to her."

Angelica grabbed the book out of his hands. "You mean when you grow up, you can get a job doing that?"

"Boy, this really brings back the memories: The whole family waiting for the show to start, us kids right up front, Grandpa in the back," He started dozing off, "On his rocker... usually... fell asleep, and they all..." With that, he was out.

"Well, that was interesting," Angelica tossed the book behind her back, "Now let's eat the rest of those maltees."

"Yeah!" Phil and Lil agreed.

"But you guys," Tommy followed them, with Chuckie and Shenzi, "Grandpa said we can only have one a-peach."

"So what?" Angelica challenged him. "Who's gonna stop us?"

Tommy looked at the mask in his hand, before getting an idea. "I am!"

"And now, the Masked Detective," The radio host announced as Tommy posed with the mask on his face.

"What're you supposed to be?" Angelica crossed her arms.

"Um, the Mass Defective."

"You don't look like the Mass Defective," Lil pointed out.

"Yeah, he was a hundred feet tall," Phil agreed with her.

"And he didn't have a diaper on," Chuckie added.

"He wears a hat too," Shenzi chimed in.

"I'm doing the best I can, you guys! Somebody's gotta stop Angelica!"

"Ohh, I'm _really_ scared," Angelica played along with a sarcastic tone, then dug around Lou's pocket some more, "Now where are those maltees?"

"Right here!" Tommy took the bag out of his diaper. "And you'll never get 'em!"

"Oh yeah?" Angelica turned to the twins. "Let's get 'em." When Tommy ran, the three chased after him, leaving Chuckie and Shenzi alone.

"Chuckie, catch!" Tommy threw the bag to him, and he managed to catch it after it bounced off his head.

"Uh oh."

"Gimme those maltees!" Angelica and the twins ran up to him.

"Run!" Shenzi exclaimed, and ran with Chuckie in the closet. He quickly shut the door after they were both in.

"I know Madam Evil would stop at nothing to get Professor Oldenheimer's rocket pellets," The radio host narrated the story as the titular character, "Break any law. Bust down any door."

"Open this door!" Angelica commanded.

"No!" Chuckie refused.

"And now, the only man standing in her way was... my clients."

Just then, Angelica managed to open the door, so she let out an evil laugh in victory. Now in a fantasy sequence, Chuckie was holding a plush woodchuck, and wore a suit. Shenzi was in a Carmen Sandiego outfit with pants, a little trench coat and a fedora. "Oh, Madam Evil! Um, hi."

Now, Angelica was dressed like the villain from the program, while Phil and Lil were in matching, pinstripe suits with fedoras, Lil's having her bow, and her suit having a skirt instead of pants. "Where are those maltees?" Chuckie's only response was nervous muttering, while Shenzi glared, refusing to talk. "Oh, never mind! Just get out of the way." After the two walked away, the blonde snapped her fingers. "Phil, Lil? Tear this place apart!" In a sequence, the two ran out of the "Oldytimer Mansion", as Madam Evil, or Angelica, looked on.

"Through my window, I saw my clients headed towards my office," The actor narrated through the sequence. "As they passed the statue of Professor Oldenheimer, I could see..." At this point, Tommy started taking over, "... That Chuckie and Shenzi were a-scared. At least, Chuckie was. Scareder than I ever seen him, and that was really a-scared."

The two "clients" made it to the office, out of breath. "Phew! We made it!" Chuckie puffed. They walked up to Tommy's desk with the woodchuck. "Here." He set it on the desk.

Now, Tommy was dressed as the Masked Detective with a trench coat, fedora, and the mask. "Nice work, guys."

"We've gotta hide it, quick! We put the maltees inside it."

"Oh, so this is the maltees woodchuck."

"You've gotta help us, Mass Defective! Madam Evil's gonna find out any minute that we took the maltees from Professor Oldytimer's house!"

"Okay, I was pretending to be brave, but I'm actually scared! Help us, Mass Defective!" Shenzi exclaimed fearfully.

They peered through the blinds, or over the bed, and saw Angelica and her lackeys looking through the closet. "You're right, guys. We've gotta hide this woodchuck, where can't she get her sticky hands on it." Behind a slightly racy photo of Didi was a safe, where Tommy hid the woodchuck. "This should keep it safe."

"Is there room for me in there?" Chuckie asked him, but before the safe could be closed, the office door suddenly opened. To their horror, it was Angelica and the twins. "Madam Evil!"

"So, the maltees are in the woodchuck. Give it to me!"

"Over my deads potty!" Tommy closed the drawer, locked it, and stashed it in his diaper. "Come on, guys!" He ran off with Chuckie and Shenzi in tow, crawling through sewers, or under the bed, while Angelica and the twins followed. After losing them, the three came out through a manhole on the street. "We'd better split up. That way, she can't catch all of us."

"But how'll we find each other again?" Shenzi asked him.

"We'll meet up at Rick's Juice Bar just before bedtime, then go to Oldytimer's from there."

"Bedtime! Right!" Chuckie stopped, and turned back to Tommy. "Will someone read me a story?"

Just then, Angelica and her lackeys climbed out of the sewers. "There they are!" Tommy then ran to his right, with Chuckie and Shenzi going left.

As Tommy turned the corner at a candy store, Shenzi suddenly tripped from her untied shoelaces. "No, Chuckie! Save yourself!" She protested when he came to help her.

"I-if you're sure!" With that, he hesitantly ran off.

Just then, the three "villains" caught up with her. "Hello, Shenzi," Angelica smiled evilly. Later, the younger girl was taken to a warehouse at the pier for interrogation. "Alright, you! Spill the milk! Where's the Mass Defective?"

"I'll never tell!" She glared. "I may be a scaredy-cat, but I'm no tattletale!" She shook her head.

"We'll see just how brave you are, Shenzi," Angelica sneered, then turned to her minions, "Phil?" The twin boy walked up to her menacingly, before Lil stifled a smile at his interrogation tactic.

"Eek! Hahahahehehe!" Shenzi burst out laughing when Phil tickled her sides from his standing place behind her. "Okay! Okay! I'll tell, I'll tell!" She gave in.

Tommy walked on the sidewalk, peering around a corner. "The toast was clear," He narrated throughout the sequence. "Now all I can do is wait for Chuckie and Shenzi." He walked into Rick's Juice Bar, where other babies were enjoying some drinks. "In the beantime, I thought I'd have a bottle." He walked up to the bar, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Mind if I join ya, Mass Defective?" Lil asked him, now in a kimono dress with chopsticks in her hair.

"Lil! What're you doing here?" Tommy glared. "I thought you were Madam Evil's bestest friend now."

"I was, but now Philip fights with her all the time, and he won't fight with me anymore. Can I be your bestest friend?"

Tommy considered her request, before patting the bar for a second bottle. "So maybe I don't think too good when it comes to girls," He narrated, "Call me a sucker for a pink bow." They started drinking out of their bottles, but Tommy's had a suspicious taste to it. "I thought it was juice, but somehow, she slipped me the warm milk. Before I knew it," He flopped down on the bar, now asleep, "It was naptime for me."

"Sucker," Lil smile deviously.

Tommy woke up in the alleyway behind the bar. "I thought Lil was my friend, but she threw me away like a used diaper." He searched through his diaper, but was horrified when the key was not in there anymore. "The key was gone. Madam Evil was gonna get those maltees, unless I can get them first. I stood up, but my legs felt like Jello." Tommy wobbled out of the alley. "The red kind, not the green kind with the bananas that I like."

In the office, Shenzi was held back by Phil and Lil, now along with Chuckie, as Angelica laughed evilly. "Finally, the maltees are within my grasp!" She unlocked the safe with the key, but was stopped before she could open it.

"Not so fast, Madam Evil!" Tommy stood at the doorway.

"You? I thought we put you to bed!"

"Well, it looks like you forgot to tuck me in. Now get away from that safe!"

"Too late, Mass Defective!" Angelica opened the safe, but was shocked at what she saw. "It's empty!" She turned to glare at Tommy. "Where's that woodchuck?"

"Chucking wood?" Tommy shrugged cluelessly. Even he was stumped.

"Oh, wise baby, eh? Well, I'm gonna do whatever I have to do to get it out of you, and it isn't going to tickle!"

"No you're not!" Lil protested.

"Lil! I thought you were my bestest friend!"

"I was! Until I gave Mass Defective the warm milk. He was so cute sleepin' like a baby," She swooned.

"Aww, he _is_ a baby!" Angelica glared.

"Well, it's me and Mass Defective now!" Lil pointed her finger like a pistol. "And if you lay a finger on him, uh... I'll tell my mommy!" She threatened.

"You dirty double flosser!"

"Thanks, Lil," Tommy walked up to her, "Where are the maltees?"

"I took them out, before I gave the key to Madam Evil." Lil opened a drawer in the desk, revealing the woodchuck, and took it out. "Come on, Mass Defective. Run away with me; We can eat all the maltees together."

"Sorry, Lil. I like chocolate as much as the next baby, but rules are rules. I can do break those rules, and I'm doing hard time out."

"Well I'm not going to the big playhouse without a fight," Angelica glared, "Get 'em, Phil."

Phil walked up in front of his "bestest friend", and pointed his finger. "Okay, Lil, put down that finger, and give us the maltees, or I'll tell my mommy!"

"Phil, we have the same mommy."

"Oh yeah."

"Besides, you got something in your nose."

"I do?" Phil started picking his nose.

"Good work, Lil." Tommy walked up, and pointed his finger at the twin boy. "Drop it Phil, or I'll tell _my_ mommy!"

"Alright," Phil stopped.

"Hey, wait a minute. None of you dumb babies can talk to grownups, anyway," Angelica pointed out.

"Oops," Lil muttered.

"Oh yeah," Tommy lowered his hand.

"Now gimme those maltees!" The blonde advanced on Lil, who threw the bag to Tommy.

"Run, Mass Defective!" Tommy caught the bag, and made a run for it, with Angelica following.

"Come back here!"

"Madam Evil was breathing down my diaper," Tommy narrated, "There was nowhere to go but up." He saw the statue of Professor Oldytimer, or Grandpa Lou, then ran up to it. After holding the bag with his mouth, he started climbing up until he was at the top, but Angelica grabbed his ankle.

"Nobody here to save you now, Mass Defective! Hand 'em over!"

"Never!"

"If I can't have 'em, nobody can!" She pulled at his leg, so he landed in Lou's lap, waking him up. He saw Angelica tugging Tommy's leg, but stopped upon realizing that he was watching them.

"Good work, sprouts!" He lifted Tommy up, and took the bag. "I was looking for these. Maltees, we used to call 'em." He went to put them away.

Outside the room, Stu and Didi sneaked to the closed door, surprised to see one another. "Oh, hi Deed. You feeling guilty too?"

"I started thinking about him all alone up here." She sighed guiltily.

"What do you say we go in, and give him a little company?" He suggested, but when they peeked in, they saw Lou chasing Tommy, Chuckie, Shenzi, and the twins, while Angelica was eating the maltees. Stu closed the door, and he and Didi shrugged, deciding that Lou was happy enough with the kids, then walked off.

In a fantasy sequence, Tommy was behind his office door in a silhouette, drinking from a bottle, and let a burp out.

* * *

 **(A/N: Well, there's the next chapter! You know the disclaimer.)**


	10. Ch 9: Slots Vegas

**(A/N: Phew, this is a long one! It's based off of the special episode "Vacation", which I enjoyed in my childhood, along with a few others, including "The Santa Experience". Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 9

* * *

In their respective houses, the Pickles, DeVilles, Finsters, and two Tucks were packing for a summer vacation; In Las Vegas! They then flocked to Stu and Didi's home, where Stu had an RV ready for them. As they boarded, Tommy's plush white tiger fell out of a bag, but was unnoticed by everyone except for Tommy. When nighttime came, Stu was driving the RV through the desert, before they arrived at their destination. The toddlers, who were on the top bunk, looked in awe at the sights all around them. "Las Vegas!" Stu announced.

"Mmm, it's lovely at night," Didi remarked.

"Haven't been here since the '50s!" Lou piped up. "Took the town by storm too! I won 15 jackpots in a row!" Friar Tuck smirked at that. "They flew me home first class, just to get rid of me!"

"Well, Mom said you lost everything but your underwear, an came back on a bus," Drew pointed out.

"Oh, what did she know?" Lou brushed him off.

"Look at all the lights, you guys!" Tommy turned to his friends from the window.

"It's like being inside a Ch'istmas tree!" Lil marveled.

"Naw, that was just sticky," Phil disagreed.

"Do you think we're gonna live here?" Chuckie wondered aloud.

"I dunno, Chuckie," Shenzi shrugged. For the night, she was in black and pink one-piece pjs with black, short puff sleeves, long black pants, a pink tutu with a black bow on the zebra striped waistband, and a black and white "Daddy's Girl" graphic on the front. She also wore white slipper booties with a black mustache on each of them, and a pink bow headband.

"You dumb babies!" Angelica walked up the staircase. "We're not gonna live here; We're on vacation!" She then spotted her doll close to the edge of the stairs, and grabbed her. "Oh, there you are, Cynthia."

"What's a bacation, Angelica?" Tommy asked her.

"A vacation is when you can do exactly what you want, all the time," She explained, while combing Cynthia's hair.

"I guess that means Angelica is _always_ on bacation," Chuckie whispered to Shenzi and Tommy, and they all shared a laugh.

"My daddy says Slots Vegas is the bestest place in the whole world to go for a vacation."

"What's Slots Vegas?" Shenzi asked her.

"That," Angelica pointed outside the window to the neon lights, and heavy traffic, "And I'm gonna be the _star_ of Slots Vegas, and I'm gonna sing on a _real_ stage, in front of a _bazillion_ people! Come on, Cynthia, let's go practice our scales. _**Go make me a donut real slow!**_ " She sang on her way down the stairs.

"Does that mean we get to do ezzactly what we want?" Lil wondered aloud.

"Sure!" Tommy replied. "It's our bacation too!"

"I wanna ride Reptar to the moon!" Phil made his Reptar doll fly like a plane.

"Reptar can't fly!" Lil protested.

"He can on my bacation, Lillian!" He retorted.

"No, he's bein' my little baby, _Philip!_ " She took his doll and hugged it, shooting a glare at him.

"Mine!" Phil tried to retrieve it back.

"Well, I wanna try that thing, where ya parachute off the Eiffel Tower!" Betty flapped her arms for emphasis.

"I hear they have a replica of the Pacific Ocean in the lobby of the Atlantis hotel," Stu informed, "Maybe I'll check out the surfing."

"You can't surf," Drew sneered.

"Can too!" Stu retorted.

A large TV on the Rainforest motel caught Tommy's attention. It had 2 Las Vegas magicians with 2 white tigers. "There's what I wanna do!"

"Oh, look guys!" Chaz pointed out. "It's those two magicians, Heimlich and Bob!"

"Nice tigers," Howard remarked.

"You wanna watch telibision?" Chuckie asked Tommy.

"We have telibisions at home," Shenzi added.

"No, guys! I wanna pet those kitties! They're just like the one that got lefted at my house."

"Look at their little whispers," Lil cooed.

"I dunno, Tommy," Chuckie hesitated, "They look kinda big to me."

"I agree," Shenzi nodded.

"It's just 'cause the TV is so big," Tommy pointed out, "Let's all go see 'em! It'll be fun!" He headed down the stairs.

"Somebody doesn't understand the word "fun"," Chuckie nervously remarked to Shenzi, who nodded.

Just then, Stu parked the RV at a Viking themed hotel, and everyone filed out. While holding Tommy, Stu hit the gong for assistance, and they were both scared by a man in costume. "Welcome to the Viking Hotel," He greeted them with an accent, "Will this be a charge, or will you be paying with the pigs?"

The kids were gathered at the dock, when banging drums gained their attention. "Look at that!" Chuckie pointed out a Viking ship, which was rowed by people in appropriate costumes, chanting the word "rowing" repeatedly in a pattern, along the river as guests watched.

"I think I'm gonna like Slots Vegas!" Tommy expressed his excitement.

The next morning, the group were at the hotel pool in their swimwear. Tommy was simply in his diaper, Chuckie wore green trunks, Phil's were blue, Lil had a red two-piece with a skirt over her diaper, and Shenzi had a black and white polka tankini with a ruffle-hem top that had a little red bow on the neckline, simple bottoms over her diaper, and a red bow headband. All of them were wearing brown furry water wings on their upper arms, and were standing at the top of a small water slide. "Where do you think the kitties are, Tommy?" Chuckie asked him.

"I dunno, Chuckie. They've gotta be around here somewhere. There's pictures of them all over the place."

"Maybe they're lost," Phil guessed.

"Or maybe their kitty mommy puts their pictures all over, so's everyone can see her little babies," Lil chimed in.

"I'm gonna go look for 'em in the pool!" Tommy slid down the slide and landed safely in the pool, startling Didi awake when she was splashed from her place on a lounge chair.

"Okey-dokey now, who's next?" Lil secretly pointed at Chuckie with a devious smile, as Shenzi nodded. Just then, Phil pushed the redhead down the slide, so he slid on his stomach with a scream of fear. "Uh oh."

"I told him to hang onto his bathing suit," Phil remarked, as Shenzi stifled laughter.

In the pool, Stu and Howard were splashing each other, when Betty gained their attention. "Good news, guys! Today's gonna be a celebration of the glory, and wonder of fatherhood!" The kids gathered around her, along with Didi and Charlotte.

"What does that mean?" Stu wondered aloud.

"They want us to watch the kids," Howard answered his question with slight annoyance and disappointment.

"Betty has suggested we do a girls' day out at Circus Giganticus," Didi informed them.

"Yeah, they've got some killer roller coasters over there!" Betty added. "The one that goes through the lobby pulls 6 Gs! Save ya a facelift there, Charlotte!" She teasingly elbowed Charlotte, making her glare in annoyance. "Ha! Now don't get too crazy, you party animals!"

Didi set Tommy on the ground. "Bye, honey!" The mothers then headed on their way.

"Well, there goes _our_ fun," Stu expressed his disappointment after they left.

"Nonsense, we'll just do shifts," Drew suggested, "I'll take tomorrow." He then headed off.

"I'll take the next day," Chaz went with him, and with a nervous chuckle, Howard followed his lead.

Just then, Lou surfaced with snorkels on his head, and spit out the mouthpiece. "Where'd everybody go?"

"They bailed on us, Pop," Stu explained, "Looks like you, me, Tuck, and the kids."

"Well, that's okay! We'l just take 'em over to the casino with us!"

"Lou, kids aren't allowed in the casino," Friar Tuck pointed out.

"Why don't we just head over to the all-you-can-eat buffet, and grab some lunch?" Stu suggested.

Lou looked from the kids quarreling over Angelica's novelty inner tube, to the casino where people seemed to be having fun. "Well, alright," He reluctantly agreed, "The games are probably rigged nowadays, anyway."

"I'm rich! I'm rich!" An elderly man with tons of bills ran past them. "I hit the jackpot! Ahahahaw! I'm rich! I'm rich!"

"On the other hand, see ya!" Lou then plunged back underwater to swim over to the casino.

After seeing the rich man, Friar Tuck gave in to temptation. "Uh, I'm going to make sure he doesn't end up on a bus in his underwear." He then headed off with a sheepish smile, to Stu's chagrin.

l-l

Now on his own, Stu took the kids, who were now in their regular outfits, to the hotel's buffet. The tots looked in awe at all the food before them. "I think I just got _really_ hungry!" Tommy expressed his excitement.

Before long, Stu was feeling overwhelmed when the kids were running amok in the place. He saw Chuckie drinking straight from the dispenser. "Wha-?! Chuckie, you're supposed to use a glass!" Phil was eating a pineapple, including the rough skin. "Phil, pineapples have to be peeled!" Shenzi had her eye on some cupcakes, and was determined to get one. "Shenzi, don't climb on the dessert stands!" Tommy was sitting in a bowl of noodles, happily eating. "Tommy, get out of the pasta salad!" While carrying Shenzi and Phil, he then saw Lil doing something very bizarre. "Ew! Lil, you're supposed to _eat_ the raisins!"

"Boy, sure are a lot of people in here," Angelica remarked as she ate both a cookie and a cupcake at once, then realized that she had a singing opportunity right there. "Hey! What am I doin', sittin' here eating?! This could be my big break!" She grabbed a banana dipped in chocolate for a microphone. "Good evening, ladies and gentermen, and welcome to the Angelica show! Starring A-A-Angelica! _**Ohhh, beautiful!**_ " She started singing.

"Oh great," Stu groaned after taking Tommy out of the pasta bowl, "You kids stay here." He went to take care of his niece.

After he left, Tommy slurped up a noodle. "Wow, that was nummy! And look!" He held up a meat bone. "I got a snack for the kitties!"

"I dunno, Tommy," Chuckie shook his head, "Maybe they're not here. Maybe we should do somethin' else; Like, sit on the floor, and be really quiet."

"You're right, Chuckie."

"I am?" The redhead was surprised at that.

"I don't think they are here," Tommy walked up to a window, "I think they're in a different house."

" _ **Angelica! Angelica!**_ " The blonde continued singing as Stu crawled up to her on the table, squishing a dessert with one hand unintentionally.

"But Tommy, your daddy tolded us to stay here," Shenzi reminded him.

"That's true, Shenzi, essept this is a bacation," Tommy pointed out, "And on a bacation..."

"We can do ezzactly what we want!" Phil and Lil finished simultaneously, then joined Tommy at the window, with Chuckie and a reluctant Shenzi following.

"Look, there they are!" Tommy pointed to the TV at the Rainforest hotel, showing the tigers in a cage.

"Yeah, but what's that they're in?" Phil wondered aloud.

"It looks like a playpen," Lil remarked.

"More like a prism," Tommy concluded.

"You mean, they're prismers?" Phil asked him sympathetically.

"We gots to let them out, Tommy!" Lil cried.

"You guys!" Chuckie gasped in fear. "People end up in prism, 'cause they've done bad stuff!"

"They're _kitties_ , Chuckie," Tommy protested, "Kitties can't do bad stuff."

"Kitties are tiny," Lil said emotionally.

"And fluffy," Phil added.

"They do look sad in there," Shenzi remarked sympathetically.

"Lil's right, you guys," Tommy announced, "We've gotta let 'em out. Those kitties came all the way to Slots Vegas, and they a'serve a bacation as much as we do! Come on!" They then headed for the exit.

" _ **Thank me-e-e-e-E-E-E!**_ " Angelica finished, as Stu carried her under his arm. "Thank you, thank you!"

"When your parents get back, I am go..." Stu stopped when he realized that the kids had wandered off when his back was turned. "Oh no! The kids!"

Outside, the toddlers were crawling amongst the crowd. "Which way, Tommy?" Chuckie asked him.

"Uh, I'm not sure, Chuckie."

"There must be some way to get there," Shenzi looked around. They gasped when the bridge to the Viking ship was suddenly lowered on a ship.

"Come on, Vikings! To the buffet!" The passengers excitedly disembarked, and made a beeline for the buffet.

"The boat! This'll take us to the kitties!" Tommy walked up to it. "Let's go!"

"Why couldn't the Bikings ride trikes?" Chuckie shortly vented to Shenzi, who shrugged.

Tommy crawled up the bridge, swung on a hanging rope, and bounced off a drum, so the boat started moving. "Rowing," The employees started chanting.

Phil and Lil then landed on the drum in turn, so the boat kept going. "We're moving!" Tommy exclaimed. "Do that again, you guys!" The twins started jumping up and down on the drum in a pattern, giggling with joy, as they held hands. "We're on our way!" The chanting increased in speed as the toddlers enjoyed the ride. At least, all but one. Tommy was watching the horizon, with Shenzi in front of him, as she had her arms out like she was queen of the world. "This is the bestest aventure we've ever had! Don't you think so, Chuckie?" Shenzi looked up and gasped after hearing fearful screaming. "Uh, Chuckie?" He looked up, and to his horror, Chuckie was swinging high on a rope, without a safe way to get down!

At the hotel, Stu rushed outside and saw them on the ship. "Oh no." He gasped in shock at Chuckie's predicament, and turned to Angelica. "Let's go!"

"But Uncle Stu, I gotta go back for my encorn!" She protested.

"Come on, Angelica!" He picked her up under his arm again. "Hold on, Chuckie! I'm coming!"

On the ship, Chuckie hit the mast and managed to let go of the rope. His head collided with Tommy's, before he landed on Shenzi's back. "That's not the bestest thing to do right after lunch," He groaned sickly.

Stu ran after the ship with Angelica on hand, but was unable to keep up. "We'll never catch them this way." He then spotted a small rowboat close by. "A boat! Hurry!" He ran up to it.

"Wait a minute, I'm not getting' in that little thing," Angelica protested.

"Pretend it's a game," He suggested, but when they boarded, his side of the boat quickly tipped.

"Uncle Stu, you gotta learn some new games."

On the ship, Tommy spotted what they were after. "Look, you guys, it's the kitties!" But the ship didn't stop. "Hey, what's going on?"

"The boat! It's going the wrong way!" Chuckie exclaimed.

"Phil, Lil! Stop jumping!" Shenzi told them.

"We've gotta get off!" The bald baby added.

The twins stopped, and sat back-to-back on the drum. "That's okay with us," Phil said, as the worn out rowers were able to rest.

As a last resort, Stu swam in the river with Angelica on his back. "Um, Uncle Stu?"

"Not now, Angelica." A second after, he bumped his head on the ship. "Ow!"

"Tried to warn ya!"

A man in a Viking costume raised the ship bridge, so the toddlers slid down, and stood in front of the casino. "Wow!" Tommy breathed in awe.

"What is it?" Lil wondered aloud.

"I think it's a 'musement park," Tommy replied.

"That's the way I wanna go," Phil pointed straight ahead, and they walked deeper inside.

At one table, where Phil stood on Lil's back, a man was playing craps, and ended up rolling a two. "Snake eyes."

Phil tried to eat the dice, but spit them out. "They're a little stale."

Chuckie was running on a roulette, with shocked adults watching, but stumbled and started spinning. "Hang on, Chuckie! I'm coming!" Tommy pushed stacks of poker chips closer to the roulette, stood unsteadily on top, and managed to lunge Chuckie on the floor.

"Double 0!" A woman at the roulette announced.

"Thanks Tommy," Chuckie smiled dizzily.

"This way!" Tommy was about to head off with him the twins, but realized there was one member of their group missing.

At another table, where two men were playing Blackjack, Shenzi yanked a card from a pile, making the pile collapse, and admired it with curiosity. It was a 10 of clubs. "What the-? Hey, kid! Gimme that!" One man snatched the card out of her hand, fixed the pile, and went back to the game.

"Come on, Shenzi!" Tommy led her away after grabbing her hand.

Stu and Angelica, who were dripping with water, were in the casino looking for the toddlers, but her eyes lit up upon seeing a stage, where "The Fabulous Erik" was singing, and she had an idea. "I'm sure they came this way," Stu concluded, "Come on, Angelica." When he headed the way he directed, she walked to the stage without him noticing.

With his friends' help, Tommy stood on top of a slot machine, and looked around for the "kitties". Little did they know, Lou was there. "Well, this is my last nickel," He hesitated, but knelt down when he saw something on the floor. "Oh, what's this? Would you look at that? A lucky penny." As he was distracted, Tommy landed on the lever and forced it down, enjoying the ride, and landed on the floor. "Hey!" Lou shot back up, not seeing his grandson. "Who pulled the confla-?!" The machine showed 3 Bars, then hundreds of nickels flew out. "Woohoo! Jackpot!" He cheered.

"Over here, Tommy!" Lil called him over, and he followed her.

When Stu ran in the aisle, he saw his son for only a second turning the corner. "Tommy, stop!" He tried to run after him, but he slipped on nickels, and fell face-up.

"Oh, good! You're just in time to help me carry my nickels!"

"Forget the nickels, Pop," Stu stood on his feet, "The kids are getting away!"

"Wait, what?!" Friar Tuck ran after him from another row of slot machines, slipping on the nickels but staying on his feet. "Shenzi!"

"You parents today are such nervous nellies!" Lou remarked.

The toddlers found a sled with dogs waiting for passengers at a route for the circus hotel, and eagerly boarded the sled, Phil helping Lil and Chuckie helping Shenzi. "How're we gonna make the dogs go, Tommy?" Shenzi asked him.

"Well, I know what works with Spike. Anybody got a ball?" He asked them.

"Well," Phil sighed in hesitance, "I was saving this for later," He took an orange from the buffet out from under his shirt, and gave it to the bald baby. Tommy threw the orange in the snow, and the dogs started running in that direction, with the kids screaming in terror.

"Darn it, kid!" Erik struggled with the microphone cord when Angelica tried to take it. "Let go!"

"Come on!" Stu grabbed her and tried to pull her away. Her grip loosened, and Erik fell back.

In the polar route, Chaz was skiing in the fake snow when Howard came up, and had to move aside to avoid colliding with him. "Hey!" Howard exclaimed when Chaz shifted back and forth in front of him.

"Watch it!" Chaz moved aside clumsily.

"Ooh, look out! Look out!" They didn't notice the sled with the kids ride by, with them still screaming.

"How do you start one of these things, anyway?" Stu wondered aloud.

"Reminds me of the 15 years I spent prospecting up in the Yukon," Lou told Angelica one of his stories, as he put his bags of nickels in the sled, "One night, it got so cold, I had to sleep under... a grizzly bear."

"That's nice, Grandpa. Can I have some nickels?"

The toddlers arrived at the Circus Giganticus Hotel, after the dogs finally stopped, crashing into a juggler on a unicycle. "Wow!" They looked around in awe.

"How do you steer this thing?!" Stu struggled with the sled.

"Pull the strap!" Lou replied.

"Which one?!"

Angelica then noticed that Chaz and Howard were headed straight for them. "Um, Uncle Stu?"

"Not now, Angelica!" But sure enough, they collided with the sled.

"W'aaaaah!" Chuckie screamed when he was surrounded by clowns. He crawled away from them, and back to his friends. "Clowns! There had to be clowns!" He shuddered, and Shenzi rested a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

"It's okay, Chuckie," She assured him, "We're almost there. Look!" She pointed to the Rainforest Hotel TV, where the tigers were still being shown.

A second later, the fathers plus Angelica arrived at the same hotel. "A circus!" She gasped, and with a giggle of excitement, she jumped out of the sled to explore.

"Oh no! They're in the center ring!" Stu jumped out of the sled. "I'm coming, kids!" He started running up to them. "Nobody move! Watch out for the babies!" A swinging trapeze artist suddenly grabbed his hands. "What're you doing?!"

"Aren't you part of the act?" She asked him, clueless of his predicament.

"I'm sure he can carry us," Tommy turned to his friends, as they stood behind an elephant, "Alls we gotta do is find the stairs."

As Angelica looked around, a group of clowns in a pink car with a wind-up key on the back stopped close by. "Come on, you clowns!" They quickly disembarked, leaving the now interested blonde with their car.

The toddlers tried to climb up on the elephant's back, but they were swung off of the tail, and into a soft pile of hay. Phil popped his head out of the pile first, followed by Tommy. "What're we gonna do, Tommy?"

"Yeah, we'll never get to the kitties now!" Lil chimed in after revealing herself. Chuckie popped up with a groan of distress, followed by Shenzi, who spit out two sticks and pulled some out of her hair.

Just then, Angelica drove up to them in the clown car. "Hello, babies! Like my new car?"

"Yeah!" Phil and Lil perked up.

"Hey Angelica, will you give us a ride over to the kitties' house?" Tommy requested.

"Nah! I'm gonna find a place, where I can sing, and be famous!"

"If you come with us, you can have something even better," Shenzi said.

"Better?" She scoffed. "What could be better?"

"If you come with us, you can be on TV!" Tommy pointed to the TV with the tigers. She liked that concept!

As Stu was forced into a trapeze routine, Angelica drove by the safety net with the toddlers in the car. Tommy was next to her, while Chuckie and Shenzi were next to each other, and Phil and Lil were in front of them. "See you later, Uncle Stu! We're gonna go see the kitties!" Didi, Betty, and Charlotte were riding the rollercoaster in the back car, and screamed during the steep drop and overbanked turn. Just then, Angelica drove just under the track, and through a pair of double doors. "And as we leave the big circus place," She narrated, "To our right, we see some grass and stuff!" Up ahead, Drew came out of a store, his arms and hands full of bags. "And up ahead, we see..." She gasped in shock upon seeing him. "My daddy?!" She didn't know how to stop, but barely dodged him, so he dropped his bags and fell to the ground.

Angelica drove up a staircase and along a walkway, dodging other people, then arrived at the Rainforest Hotel. They heard jungle noises as she drove into the lobby. "We made it!" Tommy cheered, and they all marveled at the scenery.

"Where are the kitties?" Lil wondered aloud.

"Look over there!" Phil looked to his left.

The car stopped in front of a swinging door with a framed picture of the tigers on it. "That way, Angelica!" Tommy pointed ahead.

"Everybody hang on!" Angelica drove through the doorway.

"I don't know; She said something about the kitties," Stu lead the fathers plus Lou to the entrance for the Rainforest Hotel theatre. They then saw a poster for the Heimlich and Bob magic show with the tigers.

"You don't think she meant...?" Drew lingered.

"The tigers!" Stu finished fearfully. "They're trying to get the tigers from the Heimlich and Bob show! Come on!" They ran to the doors, but were stopped by the intimidating ticket taker.

"Where do you think you're going, snow buddy?" He sneered at Chaz.

"Uh, in there?" He chuckled nervously.

"Not without a ticket," He poked Chaz's nose, making him gulp in fear.

Lou looked down at his bags of nickels, and at the casino, then decided to do the right thing; He marched up to the booth and put the bags on the counter, surprising the woman. "6 tickets, please! And make it snappy!"

In the theatre, the magic show was just getting started. "Good evening, and welcome to the Heimlich and Bob Show!" Heimlich announced the beginning of the show with a French accent after he and his assistant were lowered down on the stage. "Tonight, we will be dazzling you beyond your wildest imagination! Isn't that right, Bob?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," He replied boredly.

"You will see wonders never before seen, on zis and any planet! Ending with our famous disappearing act, zen we'll be lowered into ze cage of tigers!" They gestured to the two white tigers, so the audience gasped in shock. Or, the "kitties" that the toddlers were looking for. "Zen, disappear into total invisibility, only to reppear in this vat of low-fat milk!" They gestured to a large cow printed vat of milk, and the audience gasped again, as the tigers licked their lips in hunger.

Meanwhile, the toddlers were standing on the catwalk above the stage. "Tommy, those kitties aren't little," Chuckie pointed out, "They're giantic!"

"They are pretty big," Tommy agreed hesitantly.

"What should we do, Tommy?" Shenzi asked him.

"Well, um, maybe we should just go home," He decided, and looked down at the cage, "Bye, kitties. I'm sorry I couldn't help you." One of the tigers looked up at them. "Hi," He waved. When the tiger reached up to them, as if he understood their mission, Tommy changed his mind. "No! No, I don't care how big they are!" He protested. "It's still not fair for them to be stuck in that prism, and it's up to us to get 'em out!"

"But how're we gonna get out there without nobody seeing us?" Phil asked him.

"Hey, babies!" Angelica called to them from another section of the catwalk. "Over here!" As workers put animals in the magic boxes, the toddlers joined her. "Say goodbye to the old Angelica, babies, 'cause I'm about to become a _star!_ " To their shock, after a rabbit was set in a box, she jumped in! She was unnoticed, as the box was closed and wheeled to the stage.

"This is it, you guys!" Tommy announced. "For the kitties!" He held out his hand.

"For the kitties!" Phil and Lil stacked their hands over his, then turned to Chuckie and Shenzi.

"F-for the kitties," Shenzi put her hand over Lil's.

Then, all eyes were on Chuckie. "For the kitties," He reluctantly set his hand on Shenzi's, "Ough."

As the magic boxes were loaded, the toddlers jumped in one each, escaping the workers' attention. The boxes were then wheeled on the stage, along with all the others.

"As you can see, zis box is completely empty," Heimlich and Bob opened the box for demonstration, "Devoid of physical matter! Nozing in it! But now, we close ze box!" They closed both doors, unaware of what was going to happen. "We tap on it 3 times with our special Heimlich and Bob hands, to behold...!"

"The fabulous Angelica!" The blonde announced after magically appearing with some rabbits. The audience gasped in shock, mistakenly believing that the magicians use young children in their acts, as the rabbits hopped out.

Outside, the mothers were recovering from the wild rollercoaster, although they seemingly had a great time. But when they saw Angelica on the TV, they stared in bafflement.

Angelica took Heimlich's microphone, then started singing. " _ **My days were just a chore to get through, oh yeah!**_ " They started running to the Rainforest hotel theatre. " _ **Back there at home with nothin' to do! Peyew! Now that I'm away...**_ " She walked in between the showgirls' legs, " _ **Gonna play all day! Whoo!**_ " Heimlich and Bob attempted another magic box, in hopes of winning the audience back, but the audience were even more baffled to see Tommy in the box with a puppy. " _ **I'm gonna stay out, 'til they come and get me!**_ " In another box, Phil was with a weasel. " _ **I wanna dance, and jump, and run!**_ " Lil was revealed with a bunch of doves. In another box, Chuckie was revealed with a skunk, which sprayed once the box was opened. " _ **Wanna go out, and have some fun, yeah!**_ " Chuckie walked out of the box in disgust. In the last one, which the magicians were afraid to open, Shenzi appeared with a kitten. " _ **You can come along! We can sing this song!**_ " Heimlich tried to jump her, but he crashed into a showgirl, and ended up with the first box on his back. " _ **You know we can't go wrong if we're to-gether! One week around here, just not enough!**_ _ **Two weeks around here! Yeah! Now it's time to do the really great stuff!**_ "

Outside the theatre, the ticket woman was annoyedly playing poker with Lou to settle him paying with nickels, when the mothers came dashing in. "Out of our way, mister!" Didi commanded, so the burly man jumped out of the way. The fathers and Lou followed them, with Chaz shunning the man along the way.

" _ **Vacation, all I ever wanted! Vacation, have to get away!**_ " Amongst the mess on the stage, Tommy found the tiger cage, and walked up to it. Angelica was walking away from the magicians and showgirls when they tried to grab her. " _ **Vacation, wish it would never end! Oh yeah!**_ " The mothers ran into the theatre, and to Didi's horror, Tommy was headed for the tiger cage with his toy screwdriver out. " _ **Vacation, all I ever wanted! Vacation, have to get away! Vacation, wish it would never end!**_ " With a Tarzan yell, Didi swung over on a rope, and grabbed Tommy to safety. " _ **One week around here, just not enough!**_ "

On the stage, Heimlich tried to catch Angelica, but was stopped by a bag full of nickels pulling his wig off. The magicians were distracted by Lou's bags as Angelica was safe. He threw his bags on the stage from his standing place on a table, having a great time. "Easy come! Easy go!"

" _ **Two weeks around here! Yeah! Now it's time to do the really great stuff!**_ " Betty, Howard, Chaz, and Friar Tuck managed to retrieve their respective children throughout the excitement, feeling relieved that they were safe and unharmed. The magicians went over to them, angry at the kids for ruining the show, but were stopped by the growling tigers, who were now free from their cage. " _ **Vacation, all I ever wanted! Vacation, have to get away! Vacation, wish it would never end!**_ " Heimlich and Bob tried to run, but slid on some nickels on the stage, and landed in the milk. It splashed out enough to wash over to the tigers, who started lapping it up happily after sniffing it. " _ **Vacation, all I ever wanted! Vacation, have to get away! Vacation, wish it would never end!**_ "

The parents walked up behind the tame tigers, and allowed the kids to pet their soft fur. "Y'know guys, this is the bestest bacation any baby ever had!" Tommy remarked.

"Yeah!" Lil agreed excitedly, along with the rest of their friends.

"Except for the clowns," Chuckie added nervously, and Shenzi nodded in agreement.

" _ **Vacation, all I ever wanted!**_ " The magicians emerged from the milk, Bob putting his wig back on. " _ **Vacation, have to get away! Vacation, my, my, my! Wish it would never end, oh yeah!**_ " Angelica finished her song.

* * *

 **(A/N: Well, there you go! You know the disclaimer. The song "Vacation" doesn't belong to me.)**


	11. Ch 10: Shenzi vs The Potty

**(A/N: Since I updated "Forever and Always" twice in a row, I decided to do the same for this one. This one is based off of "Chuckie vs The Potty", hence the chapter title. Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 10

* * *

One night, Friar Tuck was startled awake by his daughter's sudden crying from her nursery. He rushed in the room, where she was flailing in her crib, but the familiar smell made him sigh in slight exasperation. Regardless, he set her on the changing table and changed her, as she quieted down. "Shen, I don't mind changing you, but you've got to start using that training potty I got you. Especially since you'll be staying with the Finsters tomorrow until Sunday." After she was fresh and clean, she was happy and giggly again. "Yeah, that's right, sweetheart," He couldn't help but smile at his adorable daughter, "You'll be with Chuckie and his daddy for 2 whole days." He then set her back in her crib, as she let out a yawn. "Okay, g'night kiddo." He kissed her cheek, then left the room with her light off, and her nightlight on.

Shenzi was lost in her thoughts, as the idea of giving up her diapers ran through her mind. "I can't throw my diapees away!" She said to herself. "I'll be using them until I'm like Tommy's grandpa!" She eventually fell asleep.

The next day, he took her to the Finster residence, with some of her clothes, her diapers, her training potty, and everything else she needed for the weekend. "I'm telling you, Chaz," Friar Tuck vented as he walked in the house after being granted access, "It just can't be done. She refuses to use her potty instead of diapers."

"I'm sure she'll warm up to the idea," Chaz assured him, "Chuckie was troublesome when being potty trained, but he pulled through. Don't get too discouraged." They walked in the living room, where Shenzi was set on the floor with Chuckie in front of the couch.

"Well, alright."

"You just go off and have a good business trip. I'll just make sure Shenzi uses her... p-o-t-t-y," Chaz quietly spelled out for him, so the little girl wouldn't hear.

"Okay," Friar Tuck confided, "But if there's any trouble, call the hotel I'll be staying in."

"There won't be any trouble. We'll be just fine."

"Alright then." He turned to his daughter. "Bye, Shenzi. You be good for Chaz, and use your potty, okay? And don't eat any insects!"

"Bye, Tuck," Chaz held the doorknob after guiding the other father to the door.

"Or walk onto the street!"

"Bye, Tuck," Chaz said again, opening the door.

"Or drink any bad fluids!"

"Bye, Tuck!" Chaz finally pushed him outside.

"Or...!" He was cut off by the door closing.

"He sure is overprotective," Chaz remarked with amusement.

"Chuckie, you won't believe what my daddy is trying to make me do," Shenzi vented.

"What is it?"

"He wants me to, he.. oh, I can't say it!"

"It's okay, Shen," He comforted her.

"He wants me to... use that," She pointed to the training potty, "Instead of my diapees!"

"You're getting potty trained?" Chuckie confirmed.

"Uh huh," She nodded, "That's what my daddy calls it."

"Well uh," He tried to think of a way to help her, then remembered the tips from Tommy, Phil, and Lil back when he himself was in this predicament, before she moved onto the block. "Maybe you can use napkins in your dress as a diaper?"

"I already tried that," She replied.

"Did you try pooping in your room, and hiding it in your toy box?"

"Yes."

"Did you try to stop pooping altogether?"

"Yes! But it's no use! None of those things worked! I guess I'll have to be... potty trained."

"Ha!" Angelica came up after being dropped off by Drew. "Didn't Chuckie tell you, Shenzi? Everybody who's anybody is potty trained!"

"Well, not me!" The younger girl refused. "I'm gonna wear my diapees forever, and nobody's gonna stop me! Not my daddy, not the gloverer, not even the present of the bee-nited steaks! Because I-ee!"

"Shenzi?" Chuckie walked closer to her, now concerned.

"I..."

"What is it? Talk to me!"

"I, I, I've gotta go-o-o!" She exclaimed, then started crying.

"Oh! Oh boy! It's happening!" Chaz quickly picked her up, and headed for the bathroom where her training potty was, as Chuckie followed. "Where is Chuckie's "No More Diapers" book?!" After pulling Shenzi's skirt down, and setting her on the training potty, he quickly grabbed the book from the edge of the bathtub, and sighed in relief. "Okay," He tried to catch his breath, then read the book out loud to himself, as his son watched from the doorway, "According to Lipschitz, I'm supposed to wait until she does his business, then give her a lot of praise, so she understands. So, I just... wait."

Several minutes passed, and Shenzi didn't do anything. She merely sat on the potty, minding her own business. Eventually, Chaz fell asleep in the tub, as the little girl was on the verge of drifting off herself, feeling bored. "You doing okay, Shenzi?" Chuckie walked up to her.

"Is it too much to ask, Chuckie?" She vented. "Is is too much to ask? I just want things to stay the same! Like how they've always been!"

"Well Shen, they're making you do it anyway; Why don't you just do it?" Chuckie asked her. "It's easy!"

"I dunno," She hesitated, then stood up, "Well, I guess I don't have to go after all." But just then, her bladder gave out and made a mess on the floor, as Chuckie backed away. "Uh oh!" Her eyes widened.

The tinkling noise woke Chaz up. "Oh no!" When she was finished, he quickly lifted her away from the mess, leaving her skirt there, and put a pair of Chuckie's green shorts as a substitute after carefully wiping her, then started cleaning up the mess after putting her skirt in the washer.

The toddlers walked to the living room, and jumped up on the couch. "Gee Shenzi, potty training is tough for you, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah," She nodded, "I mean, sometimes I feel like I have to go, but I don't! But then I do again!" She sighed in exasperation. "It's so confusing."

In the kitchen, Angelica overheard everything, laughing evilly to herself. "Perhaps I should do for Shenzi, what I did for Chuckie last time!" She stood on a stepstool at the sink, and turned on the faucet.

"Oh no!" Shenzi's urge to go was triggered, as she headed for the bathroom. But when the blonde turned the faucet off, Shenzi stopped running. Angelica turned it back on, so Shenzi started running again, but she stopped when the faucet was off.

"What is it, Shenzi?" Chuckie asked her.

"I don't know! I thought I had to go! But now I don't..." The faucet was turned back on, "Now I do!" It was back off. "Now I don't!" Angelica increased the pattern speed. "Do! Don't! Do! Don't!" She eventually gave up and fell face-down on the floor, crying in frustration.

"Shenzi, you are funny!" Angelica walked in the living room. "Didn't Chuckie tell you that you have to use the potty when you get old? If you don't know, you can't never go to school, or drive a car, or join the army, or none of that fun stuff!"

"I don't care!" The younger girl stood up with a glare. "With Bob as my witness, I'm never using that potty again!" She vowed.

l-l

That night, as Shenzi was sleeping in Chuckie's bed with him, a nightmare started going on in her subconscious. "No! No, I don't want to go," She mumbled in her sleep, "You can't make me! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!"

 ***All of a sudden, the bedroom was turned into a jail cell, and she was alone. Phil and Lil, now prison guards, opened her cell door. "Come on, Shenzi," Phil addressed her, "It's time to go."**

 **"The chair is waiting for yas," Lil added ominously.**

 **"But-but I'm too young to go!" She protested.**

 **"Not anymore!" The twins pulled her off the bed, and escorted her down the aisle. As they passed more jail cells, Shenzi was leered at by adult men wearing only diapers, like overgrown babies.**

 **She was then led over to Chuckie, who was dressed as a priest with his hair smooth. "Is there anything I can get you, my lady?" He asked her. "Any last requests for you now?"**

 **"But it's not right! Not right, I tell you! Don't let 'em make me do it!" She begged.**

 **"Now, now, don't be being a baby, my lady," He calmed her down, "What's the little people think? She looked down, and to her surprise, miniature versions of Chaz and Friar Tuck were kneeling before her, as if silently pleading with her.**

 **She then sighed with hesitation. "Well, I'll try," She turned to Chuckie, "I'll try."**

 **Hand-in-hand with Chuckie, she was led to a room with a sign reading "The Chair", as a rat ran past them. When the door was open, she saw a giant toilet on a high platform with an "executioner" at the handle with a plunger in one hand. "Aah! No!" She tried to escape, but Phil and Lil grabbed her, and headed for the stairway. "Not the chair! Not the chair!" Chuckie watched as they set her on the toilet. "Wait! Wait, listen! Listen!" She tried to protest. "I'm only two!"**

 **She was surprised at the familiar laugh from the executioner. "Everybody's gotta go someday!" The mask was taken off, revealing Angelica!**

 **"No, please! Not that!" Angelica pulled the handle, so the toilet was flushed, taking Shenzi down. "GYAAAAA!" She swirled down the pipe, before... she woke up!***

She shot up, panting from the adrenaline, then had that feeling again. "Wow! I _really_ gotta go!" She jumped down from the bed, ran in the bathroom, sat on her training potty, and sighed in relaxation as she relieved herself, waking Chaz.

He walked in the bathroom, and was overjoyed at the scene before him. "Hey, Shenzi, you did it!" He praised her. "You used your potty! And on your own too! Wait until your father hears about this! He's going to be so proud of you, sweetheart!" Chuckie walked up to the doorway after overhearing everything.

"Mr. Chuckie's Dad!" A crying Angelica walked in the bathroom. "I had an accident!"

"Oh dear! Come on, Angelica; Let's get you changed and cleaned up." Chaz rushed her to where she slept as she cried harder.

Chuckie walked up to Shenzi after she was standing on the floor. "Well, like they say, "Everybody who's anybody is potty trained"!"

"Uh huh!" She nodded. "And I'm an anybody now!"

"Yes you are!" He nodded.

* * *

 **(A/N: Well, I hope this was good! You know the disclaimer.)**


	12. Ch 11: Thanksgiving Pt 1

**(A/N: This part will be in two separate chapters. Both parts are/will be based off of "The Turkey Who Came to Dinner". Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 11

* * *

On Thanksgiving Day, Didi was reading to Tommy and the twins at their play table. "The Pilgrims were people just your mommies and daddies. A long time ago, they came here from far, far away. And today, Thanksgiving is the day they picked to say thank you for all the good things they had. Like their family, and especially their new friends, the Native American people who helped them when things were really hard. So every year, we give thanks for our family and friends, by getting together for a lovely dinner. There's corn, and potatoes, and stuffing, and pie, and we always have a great, big..."

"You wanna put _mustard_ on the turkey?" Betty questioned Charlotte, as Howard was stirring batter in a bowl for the dinner.

"Well, that's better than slathering it in butter," Charlotte argued.

"Mustard's for hot dogs, Charlotte! This isn't a cookout! It's Thanksgivin'!"

"Oh my," Didi remarked about them, then turned to the kids, "Um, so uh, that's the story of Thanksgiving. The end." She closed the book. "Now paint some more turkeys, and I'll be right back." She headed for the kitchen, but the doorbell ringing stopped her.

"Deed! Can you get that?" Stu asked her from outside, carrying a satellite dish.

After sighing in exasperation, she answered the door. Chuckie and Chaz were outside, when Shenzi and Friar Tuck quickly arrived. "Hello, sweetie!" She greeted Chuckie when he walked in. Chaz followed him with a portable TV in his arms.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Didi," Chaz greeted her, "Where do you want the TV?"

"Just put it over there by the others," She gestured to the stack of portable TVs in the living room. Just then, the Tucks came in. "Hello, Shenzi!" She patted the child's room. "What an adorable dress!" Shenzi had a dark brown short sleeve onesie with a yellow and orange tutu, yellow pipelines, and a turkey with sequins on the wings. She also wore a yellow bow headband, leggings with brown, yellow, orange, and white stripes, and her regular sneakers. She giggled as she dashed up to Tommy, Phil, and Lil, her hair and tutu flouncing. "Come on in, Mr. Tuck."

"Thanks, Didi," He followed his daughter into the house, "Happy Thanksgiving."

"Hey, hey, Chaz! Hey, Chuckie! Hi, Tucks!" Stu greeted the Finsters, and the father daughter family. "Happy Thanksgiving! Oh boy; Once we get the satellite dishes up, we're gonna be in football heaven!"

"Football?" Friar Tuck raised an eyebrow at that, then caught up with his daughter. He wasn't into sports like they were.

"Come on, guys; We've got work to do," Drew walked to the fence, where they were setting up satellite dishes.

"Okay, little fella," Chaz turned to Chuckie, "You go play with your friends." Chuckie headed for the play table, "Daddy will be right outside." He walked out in the backyard.

"Alright," Friar Tuck knelt to his daughter's level, "I'll be right outside if you need me, okay? You just have fun with your friends." He kissed her cheek, then headed outside to the backyard with the other dads.

"Why do you guys have feathers on your heads?" Chuckie asked the trio, as Shenzi arrived at the table.

"Are you birdies?" She added.

"We're playing Nakie Americans," Tommy replied, "Here, you guyses can play too!" He gave the two-year-olds a feather headband each.

"Uh, do I gotta take my clothes off?" Chuckie asked them with discomfort, his hands on his shirt.

"My daddy boughted me this dress for today," Shenzi chimed in.

"No, you just wear a feather, and have a nice, big dinner!" Phil answered Chuckie's question.

"And make turkeys!" Lil held up a drawing of vividly colored turkeys.

"'Cause it's Hanksgiving," Tommy added on.

"Who's Hanks Giving?" Chuckie asked him.

"No, it's not a person, Chuckie. It's the day we have a big dinner with our family and friends, and 'member how happy we are."

"Uh, if you're s'posed to have dinner with your family, does that mean we have to invite Angelica?" Chuckie lowered his voice to a hushed tone.

"Great idea, Chuckie!" Tommy and the twins walked to the TVs.

"Uh, uh..." Chuckie tried to stop them.

"Oh great," Shenzi muttered under her breath.

"Hey, Angelica?" They walked up to the blonde, who was watching the Gracy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on one of the TVs. "You wanna come to our Hanksgiving dinner?" Tommy asked her.

"Quiet!" She snapped at them. "Can't you see I'm busy over here?"

"Well Shelley," Frank, the host of the parade turned to his co-host, "it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a turkey," He gestured to the TV behind them, which showed the parade, "And here comes ours!"

"That's right, Frank! Tom is there..."

"I don't think she wants to come," Lil remarked to the others.

"That's okay, we'll make our dinner and and find some new friends to eat it with us," Tommy decided, "Come on!" The toddlers headed outside.

Howard continued stirring the batter, as Didi tried to mediate Betty and Charlotte's argument. "Please, everybody! We're only going to have one turkey, and we'll have to cook it together!"

"Well, where is the turkey, anyway?" Howard asked them.

"Well, Lou said he was getting it," She replied, "But he should've been here hours ago." Just then, Lou walked in the kitchen with balloons in one hand, and a bag of groceries in the other. "Pop!" Didi ran up to him. "Oh, I was starting to worry about you! Y-you did buy our turkey, didn't you?"

"I did better than that," He replied, "I _won_ a turkey!" He let go of the balloons, and took a trophy with a silver turkey on top out of the bag. "It was the first prize of the Senior Center's Thanksgiving Cribbage Cavalcade!"

"So, Mr. Big River Boat Card Player, where is this miracle bird?" Minka Kropotkin, Didi's mother, questioned him suspiciously.

"It's being delivered! They said it'd be here by 4, at least!"

"4 o'clock?!" All the women exclaimed simultaneously in shock.

"No need to thank me, ladies! Now, if you'll excuse me," Lou tossed the trophy in the air, and caught it in his other hand, "I'm gonna go out and toss around the old pigskin with my boys!" He headed outside.

"Kids, we got ourselves an emergency here!" Betty announced. "If we don't get a bird in the oven pronto, we might as well call the whole deal off!"

"I think we'd better make a quick trip to the store," Minka suggested.

"So do I!" Betty turned to her husband. "Howard, put down that ambrush, and grab the keys, you're driving!" He took off his apron, and followed the women out.

"Stu, we'll be right back!" Didi called out to her husband. "Keep an eye on the kids, okay?"

"Sure thing, Deed!"

At the play table, the toddlers had a box of Reptar cereal. "So, what's for dinner, Tommy?" Chuckie asked him.

"So far mostly, we got... a Reptar cereal," He replied, "And some... um..." He held up a crumb, "Stuff. And... anybody got anything else?"

In the living room, Angelica was still watching the parade, as Boris Kropotkin, Didi's father, slept on the couch. "Oh, Cynthia! Wasn't that beautiful?"

"Angelica, you want to help us make our yummy dinner?" Tommy asked her.

"No!" She shook her head. "I don't want to help you make your stupid, baby make-believe dinner! I want to put on a parade!"

"A parade?" Shenzi confirmed.

"Sure!" Angelica stood up, and walked to the play table. "If Gracy can put on a parade, whoever she is, then so can I! And I'm going to have the biggest and bestest parade ever; Angelica's Thanksgiving Celebration of Angelica! And you babies are gonna help me." She knocked over a box of toys to use.

"Sorry, Angelica," Tommy kindly rejected, "But we have to make our dinner so we can say thank you for having good friends! Come on, you guys! I think I left some crackers under the couch." The toddlers headed for the couch.

"Fine! I don't need a bunch of dumb babies to help me make my parade! You'd probably just mess it up anyway!" She grabbed a toy pickup truck from the pile. "And take off those feathers!"

"No!" Shenzi refused.

In the backyard, Lou approached his two sons, who were both on ladders, and Chaz and Friar Tuck, who were holding onto the ladders. "Hey!" Lou gained their attention.

Stu lost his balance in surprise, and waved his arms about to keep upright. "Whoa! Hey! Whoa!" He almost fell off, but Chaz managed to push him back up.

"Want to play a little football?" Lou asked them.

"Can't, Pop!" Stu replied. "We gotta get these dishes installed in the matrix by 2 o' clock!"

"We're gonna watch every game in the country!" Drew showed excitement at the idea.

"So let me get this straight; you'd rather watch a football game than actually _play_ one?" Lou asked them with confusion.

"That's right!" Drew replied.

"You bet!" Stu answered. Friar Tuck hid an eye roll at them.

"It's much safer," Chaz added, unintentionally letting go of the ladder. The ladder wobbled, making Stu fall on Drew in a domino effect.

"Ow!"

"Oh great!"

"I should have had girls," Lou said to himself.

In the living room, where the toddlers' headbands were on the table, Tommy sprinkled Reptar cereal in the headbands, before a knock on the front door was heard. "Excuse me." A delivery man holding a box with a "Live Poultry" label walked into the house, and up to the couch, where he set the box on the floor. "'Scuse me!" He tapped Boris' shoulder to wake him up.

"What?" He glared at him. "Can't you see a sleeping person here?" The toddlers came up in curiosity.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry to bother you, but I got a turkey here."

"So? It's Thanksgiving!" Boris pointed out grumpily. "You should have a turkey!" Chuckie and Shenzi flinched back when the box started shifting and gobbling.

"Where should I put this?"

"Well, where else does a turkey go on Thanksgiving? In the kitchen!"

"Thanks!"

"Young people," Boris remarked to himself, "They don't know from nothing."

The delivery man walked into the kitchen, and set the box on the floor. As he left, Chuckie and Shenzi peered in the doorway, and saw the box shifting and gobbling again. "There's something in that box," Chuckie whispered to Tommy. The toddlers walked in the kitchen, and up to the box.

"Hello?" Tommy knocked on the box, as what was inside gobbled. He pulled the tied ribbon off, and they were scared by a live turkey bursting out, so they screamed in fear, and ran out of the kitchen. The turkey turned to see Spike behind the box, and was smitten almost instantly. When Spike noticed him walking up, he whimpered in fear and ran outside to the backyard, with the turkey following.

The toddlers witnessed everything from the living room doorway. "What was that?" Phil wondered aloud.

"I think it was a turkey!" Tommy replied. They watched as a nervous Spike backed away from the persistent turkey.

"Oh, yeah!" Phil understood.

"It does look like the birdie on Shenzi's dress," Lil pointed out, "At least a little bit."

"Are... are turkeys friendly?" Chuckie wearily asked them.

"They has to be!" Tommy insisted. "My mom says they're a big part of Hanksgiving! I know!" He had an idea. "Let's ask him to come to our dinner!"

"I don't know!" Chuckie protested fearfully. "He's awful scary lookin'! He looks nothing like the turkey on Shenzi's dress!" The black-haired girl glanced down at the turkey on the front of her dress.

"The Nakie Americans and the Penguins looked different, but they made friends!" Tommy pointed out. "Come on, let's go get our dinner, and eat outside like the Penguins in my mom's story!" They headed out of the living room, as the turkey chased Spike around the yard.

"My daddy and I look different from all you guyses, and we're all friends," Shenzi pointed out as they walked.

"Yeah!" Tommy nodded. "Good point, Shenzi!"

Meanwhile, the fathers walked back in the house after successfully setting up the satellite dishes. Boris had fallen back asleep, as Stu grabbed one end of the table. "Ugh! Ugh!" He grunted while moving the table away with Drew's assistance. "Excuse me, Boris! I-I'm just gonna... move the TV!"

"Ugh!" Drew grunted. "We can watch the Dallas game on my set! It has the best color!"

"Hey, you guys!" Chaz piped up from the TV stack, as he adjusted the top one with Friar Tuck helping. "You think we could use one of these TVs to watch the highlights of the parade?"

The brothers stared at them in shock, realizing that they had completely forgotten about the parade, and not noticing the toddlers walking outside on the patio. In the kitchen, Lou noticed the empty box, and carried it into the living room. "Have you seen a turkey?" He asked around, waking Boris.

"A delivery man came a little while ago," The Russian man explained to him, "I told him to put your turkey in the kitchen!"

"Well, it's not there now!"

"How could that be?"

"Because, Boris, my friend, this particular piece of poultry is alive!" Lou informed him. "What do you say; You want to watch football, or do you want to hunt a little turkey?"

"Football? Hunting? Ay yi yi! But I'll help you look." He stood on the floor.

"That's what I wanted to hear. He must be in the house somewhere." Outside, the turkey was still chasing Spike around the backyard, while being chased by the toddlers.

Elsewhere, the mothers plus Howard arrived at the "Superama" supermarket. "Finally, one that's actually open!" Charlotte remarked.

The group walked among the aisles, having no luck in finding a turkey. "Now, I know I've seen it somewhere..." Betty looked up, and pointed to a sign that read "Meat and Poultry" hanging from the ceiling. "Poultry! Back wall! Let's go, girls!" They ran up to the empty freezers, where they saw a lone frozen turkey left. But just then, a woman with short brown hair and a blue dress walked in the section with an empty shopping cart, and spotted the turkey. She and Betty stared competitively at each other. "Don't even think about it!" They both rushed over to the turkey, but the newcomer pushed her cart to Betty, so she fell in the basket, and missed the turkey, so she ran off with it, laughing wickedly.

"It was a good try, honey," Howard assured her, and helped her stand up.

"I could've taken her, Howard!"

"I know!" He agreed.

"Well, now that Betty has experienced the agony of defeat, what do we do about a turkey?" Charlotte asked around.

"Well, I'm sure if we all put our heads together..." Didi started theorizing, but was cut off.

"Oh, sorry, Deed, but that 'one for all' stuff just ain't cuttin' it no more!" Betty refused defiantly. "Oh, from now on, I'm takin' care of my own! That means Betty DeVille is not leavin' this store empty-handed!" She ran after the woman, with Howard soon following. Soon, Charlotte and Minka followed his lead, making Didi sigh in disdain.

At Tommy's house, Angelica walked out of the kitchen and in the backyard, towing floats for her pretend parade behind. She spotted the toddlers behind Spike's house. "I don't need any stupid babies to help make my beautiful parade!" She said to herself. "I made the mostest perfect floats all by myself!" Just then, she fell back and landed on her floats, accidentally wrecking them. She sat up, now tied up by some ribbon, and growled in anger.

At the dog house, Spike whimpered as the turkey gobbled at him. "Wow! The turkey sure likes Spike," Chuckie remarked.

"Go ahead, Tommy," Phil turned to the leader of the group, "Ask him to our dinner."

Tommy set the cereal box in the grass, and walked to the turkey. "'Scuse me, Mr. Turkey? Um, we were wondering..." He stopped when the turkey started chasing Spike again.

Angelica was trying to untangle the ribbon, but screamed in surprise when they ran by her. Now amazed, she ran after the big bird, as Tommy grabbed Spike's collar and held him back. "What are you doing with that turkey?" She asked him.

"We're trying to ask him to come to our dinner," Tommy replied.

"Oh." She glanced at the doorway to the kitchen, then looked back at the toddlers with devious intentions. "He's coming to dinner, alright. He's gonna _be_ dinner!"

"But how can he be dinner if he's alive?" Shenzi asked her.

"He can't." Chuckie, Shenzi, and the twins gasped in shock. "Well, I'd better go tell the grown-ups he's out here, so they can cook him and eat him up!"

"No, Angelica!" Tommy boldly protested. "He's our friend!" He let go of Spike's collar, so the dog headed off with the turkey following him, and walked up to his cousin. "We're apposed to say 'thank you' to our friends on Hanksgiving, not eat them!"

"Yeah!" Chuckie, Shenzi, and the twins backed him up.

"Well, I _might_ keep him a secret, if you and your _friend_ will help with my parade," Angelica blackmailed them. Tommy looked back at the kitchen, where Lou and Boris found one of the bird's feathers, then turned to his friends and nodded with them. They then walked away with Angelica, while the turkey chased Spike yet again.

* * *

 **(A/N: Well, there's Thanksgiving part 1! You know the disclaimer.)**


	13. Ch 12: Thanksgiving Pt 2

**(A/N: Here's part 2 of the Thanksgiving special! Enjoy)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 12

* * *

On a pretend float in Angelica's parade, Cynthia was hoisted up on Lou's balloons so she was up in the air. The toddlers hauled Lou's turkey trophy into the wagon in the back, then Tommy walked up to Angelica, who was holding a pad of paper. "Okay, Angelica. We're all done."

"Not yet, babies. We still have to put on the main attraption." She looked to the turkey, whom Tommy walked up to.

"But Angelica..." He tried to protest.

"Tommy, it's getting close to dinner time," She taunted him, and he gasped in fear.

In the living room, Stu and Drew were watching football games on the multiple TVs set up in front of the couch. "Marshall's back in the eye formation, Pentley tries the sling back pass..." Just as Pentley was tackled by several players from the opposing team, the channel was changed to a nature documentary.

"As we approach this magnificent beast..."

Drew snatched the remote out of Chaz's hand, and changed the channel back to the game, where a Reptar blimp was above the football stadium. "Hey, I always watch that show!" Chaz protested.

"It's Thanksgiving, Chaz!" Drew retorted. "You can't watch Nature documentaries on Thanksgiving!"

"25, and the chase is on! 50! Whoa! Whoa!" The host reported as many moves on the field as he could.

Now holding a "Modern Clog Dancing" magazine, Chaz angrily sat in Lou's chair and started reading. Friar Tuck was sitting on the floor by the chair, looking quite bored with his hand on his cheek. He saw the redhead out of the corner of his eye with having to avert his gaze. "I feel you, Chaz."

In the backyard, the blonde was announcing the beginning of the parade, using a heart shaped hairbrush for a microphone. Tommy and some of her toys were the audience, as was Shenzi, who looked bored. "It's Thanksgiving again, and time for the greatest Thanksgiving parade ever: Angelica's Thanksgiving Celebration of Angelica!" Chuckie was holding Spike back, while Phil and Lil kept the turkey grounded, with a ribbon around his neck. "Let's start the parade with our bestest float: The Turkey!" She then glared at the redhead. "Get movin', Chuckie!" Chuckie started moving a whimpering Spike by his collar, while the twins towed the turkey, who was pulling the floats, by his ribbon. "The turkey float is followed by the Cynthia float, which is the bestest float in the world. Did I mention I made it all by myself?" Angelica gloated, and fluttered her eyelashes. Tommy turned to glare at her, but she didn't notice, as Shenzi let out a yawn. Just then, a pickup truck with sunflowers and a teddy bear rode by. "And here's the next float. It's called, Everything that makes Angelica great!"

Chuckie accidentally tripped over a rock, so he let go of Spike's collar. When the dog started running, the turkey chased him after the twins let go of his ribbon, dragging all the floats behind him. "Hey! Stop, you turkey!" Angelica tried to stop him, having to duck down so Spike jumped above her head, but the turkey crashed into her. She was under the wrecked floats as the chase continued.

"Um, great parade, Angelica," Tommy tried to cheer her up.

"I thought it went on too long," Lil remarked.

"It was boring until the turkey started chasing Spike again," Shenzi added from her place with Chuckie.

Angelica pushed the wreckage away with anger. "You did that on purpose, Chuckie Finster!" She accused him. "You let Spike go, so he'd ruin my beautiful parade!"

"He did not!" Shenzi defended him. "He tripped on a rock!"

"I don't care! Just for that, I'm gonna tell everyone there's a turkey out here, and they're gonna eat him!" The toddlers gasped in fear. "And I'm gonna help!" They gasped again.

"Yep, after we landed in Normandy, I got lost in the French Wilderness for a week!" Lou told Boris in their search, while wearing an army helmet, and picked up a feather off the floor. "Didn't speak a word of parlez vous! By the time they found me, I could catch 15 trout at a time with my bare hands!" He looked in the hall closet and saw what looked like the turkey. But when he pounced on it, he realized it was the feather duster; He let out a sneeze and fell back, the duster landing on his head.

"So, I guess you weren't fishing in closets, huh?" Boris taunted him.

"Would you please turn down that game?" Stu asked Drew over the noise. "I can't hear mine!"

"Hold on, hold on! I got it!" Drew pointed his remote to the TV pyramid, when Angelica walked up to the couch.

"Daddy!"

"Not that one!"

Angelica moved Drew's arm down. "Tommy has a real live Turkey, and I want to have it for dinner!"

"Not now, dear."

"That one!"

"That's the one I'm pointing at, Stu!"

"Daddy!" Angelica tried to gain his attention back.

"Princess, can't it wait?" He was alarmed when she held her breath in, so her cheeks started turning blue. "Angel! No, do-don't, don't! You're killing brain cells! Angelica, stop!" He tried to stop her, as Friar Tuck secretly rolled his eyes at the blonde's bratty behavior. "Mommy wants you to go to Harvard!" Angelica finally exhaled, to his relief. She then took his hand after he stood up, and led him to the kitchen. "All right, what, uh, what, what were you saying, Princess?"

"There's a turkey in the yard," She replied, "A real live turkey! Here, I'll show you!" She led him outside, where the toddlers were standing in front of Spike, with a blanket over him and the turkey.

Drew knelt down to his daughter's level, with his hand on her head. "Angelica, honey, Daddy has to go back inside and watch a... _v-very important_ football game! Okay?" He stood back up. "But if you see the magic turkey again, just tell your mother." He patted her head as he walked back in the house, leaving her angry before she followed him.

Chuckie took the blanket off of the turkey. "We can't just keep hidin' him."

"You're right!" Tommy agreed. "We gotta get him out of the yard! I think he's a bird, maybe he can fly!" The turkey looked at him. "Come on, everybody! Flap your arms! Show him how!" The toddlers giggled as they flapped their arms like wings, and jumped up and down, but the turkey seemed clueless. "Please fly, Mr. Turkey!" He pleaded with him. "If you don't get out of our yard, the growed-ups are gonna eat you for dinner!"

"Hey, maybe he just can't run fast enough, Tommy!" Chuckie suggested. "When my dad took me to the park to fly my kite, he had to run real fast before he could get it to fly!"

"Let's try it!" Tommy liked the idea.

Meanwhile, the mothers plus Howard came back to the house, Betty and Charlotte holding grocery bags. "I can't believe you got the last frozen turkey dinner!" Betty remarked.

"I wasn't the one wasting my time looking for turkey franks," Charlotte retorted.

"Yeah, well, at least now I can cook turkey my way; the right way!" Betty took out a package of turkey franks, and held them up for Charlotte to see.

"I don't suppose a little of my french mustard would be worth, say, one frank to you?" The blonde woman took out a bottle of French mustard, as Didi and Howard walked in, Howard carrying 2 grocery bags.

Just then, Angelica came up to them. "Mommy?" When she was ignored, she tugged on Charlotte's pant leg. "Mommy!"

"Not now, honey, Mommy's negotiating." Charlotte patted Angelica's head.

"Please, can't we all share what we've got?" Didi asked them. "Then there'll be enough for everyone!"

"You just say that because you don't have anything!" Charlotte pointed angrily at Didi, who gasped in shock.

"I got dibs on the microwave!" Betty called out.

"Not if I get there first!" The two women ran in the kitchen.

"Ha! You and what army?" Howard ran after them, leaving Didi exasperated.

"Mommy!" Angelica ran in after them. Didi then calmly walked in the kitchen.

In the backyard, Chuckie was running while holding the turkey's ribbon, towing the bird along the way as Tommy, Shenzi, and the twins cheered for him. "I think it's workin', you guys!" He started panting. "He's startin' to...!" He suddenly crashed into the fence, and the turkey followed his lead next to him. The others walked up to them, as Chuckie rubbed his aching head.

"Uh, I guess we know turkeys don't make good kites," Tommy remarked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Angelica looked through the patio door, and saw the turkey. She walked up to Charlotte, who was using the can opener. "If you'll just come outside, I can show you!"

"Alright, honey, I'm coming!" Charlotte gave in, and followed her daughter outside.

"There! See?" Angelica pointed out, but all her mother saw was the toddlers, with Chuckie seemingly behind the tree.

"I don't see anything, honey," Charlotte shook her head, "Is this a cry for attention? Oh, I think this is a cry for attention! Tell you what; Why don't you come in with Mommy and help her roll up rumaki?" She picked her up, and took her back in the kitchen, closing the doors behind her.

Once Angelica was gone, Tommy turned to the bush. "Chuckie, it's okay, you can come out! It's worked!" Turns out, the turkey was wearing Chuckie's clothes to hide from the adults. The redhead stood up behind the bush, feeling self-conscious.

"That was fun," Phil remarked.

"Chuckie, you're the bestest Nakie American of all!" Shenzi complimented him.

"Well, I'd rather be a dressed-up one," Chuckie put his clothes back on.

"How will we get Mr. Smurkey out of the yard if he cannot fly?" Lil wondered aloud.

"I don't know, you guys," Tommy admitted defeat. Just then, Spike walked on the seesaw, the turkey still following him. "Spike, what're you doing?" When the seesaw tipped down to support their weight, and moved back up after Spike stepped off, Tommy had something. "Hey, that gives me a idea: If we put Mr. Turkey on one side of the teaser tosser, and drop something really heavy on the other side..."

"He'll go into the air!" Chuckie finished.

"And over the fence!" Shenzi added.

"How are we gonna get him on the teaser tosser?" Lil asked them. Tommy thought about it, until Spike walked up to him.

In the kitchen, the turkey products were put in the microwave, still in their packages, and Betty closed the door. "Now, we just put this thing on 'Mega Nuke' for ten minutes, and voila! Instant Thanksgiving!"

"Field goal! All right!" Stu cheered.

"What do you mean... what are you talking about?" Drew stood up, as he protested. "They fumbled!"

"Not that one, _that_ one!" Stu grabbed Drew's chin, and directed his vision to the other TV, but they then started arguing.

Angelica then walked in the living room, where she saw her dad and uncle quarrelling, while Chaz and Friar Tuck had fallen asleep. "Isn't anybody here hungry?" She then saw Lou and Boris still on their search for the turkey, and followed them.

In the backyard, the three boys were stacked together, with Chuckie on the bottom, Tommy in the middle, and Phil on top. "Okay Lil, Shenzi, we're ready!" Tommy gave the girls the signal.

"Here we go, Spikey!" Lil said to Spike. The girls started pulling him to the seesaw by his collar, with the turkey following. They walked on the seesaw, and to their luck, the turkey stopped on it.

Phil clumsily jumped down on the seesaw, and sent the bird flying. "There he goes!" Chuckie exclaimed. But the turkey quickly fell on the ground after trying to stay in the air.

Upstairs in his bedroom, Lou made gobbling noises in an attempt to attract the turkey, narrowly missing it outside the window. "What? Maybe you got some indigestion?" Boris mistakenly assumed.

"Confound it, Boris!" Lou turned to him in exasperation. "That's an old-fashioned Allegheny Turkey call!" He then heard the bird gobble. "Hey!" He started gobbling again.

"Oh! So you act like a turkey, maybe the turkey comes to you?" Boris understood.

Angelica then walked in the room. " _I_ know where there's a turkey."

Outside, Chuckie and Tommy helped Phil stand up, as the turkey recovered from the fall. "I don't think Phil's big enough," Chuckie pointed out.

"We could wait 'til he's older," Lil suggested.

"Or we could try to lift Chuckie; he's the biggest!" Tommy decided. "What do you say, Chuckie?" He turned to the redhead.

"Can I keep my clothes on?"

"Um... oh, okay."

"Okay, but just cause' Mr. Turkey is our friend!"

Tommy turned to the two girls. "Lil, Shenzi, grab Spike! We're in busy-ness!"

"Come here, Spikey!" Shenzi and Lil guided him by his leash, with the turkey following.

Tommy and Phil struggled to lift Chuckie onto the seesaw, but when he fell on, the turkey was launched in the air. Just then, Lou, Boris, and Angelica came outside. "Thar she blows!" Lou tried to catch him with a net, chasing after him once he was on the ground, and the turkey ran between his legs. "Hey!"

"Dinner time, babies!" Angelica taunted the toddlers.

"Enough with the gobble already!" Boris took the net, and ran after the bird.

"Hey! That's my net!" Lou ran after him.

"Over here, Grandpas! Hurry! Come on! Go this way! No, this way!" Angelica tried to guide them, then ran to the turkey. Lou and Boris followed her, with the toddlers watching them. Angelica stepped on the wagon from her pretend parade, and fell on the ground, not getting hurt. She then grabbed Cynthia through the balloon strings. "Not now, Cynthia! We've almost got him!"

"Whoa! Watch out for the kinderlach!" Boris noticed Angelica in front of them. She ducked down in a panic, and they landed on the seesaw, sending the turkey flying again. He landed on one of the satellite dishes, but fell off. The dish swung back and forth, then fell over, sending the other dishes down in a domino effect.

"Dunes Breacher is in the clear! He's down to the ten, the five, the two!" Stu and Drew were still watching the games in the living room, when all of a sudden, the signal went out.

The two yelled in shock and terror, so Chaz and Friar Tuck shot awake. "Oh no! Oh no!" Stu exclaimed.

"What?"

"The game!"

In the kitchen, Betty took action when the microwave went up in flames. "Fire in the hole!" Friar Tuck dashed into the kitchen, and was shocked at the fire.

"My satellite dishes!" Stu lamented after seeing the mess outside.

The microwave door suddenly opened, so a gooey mess of turkey products sprayed out, making a big mess. "My pastrami!" Minka exclaimed.

"My franks!" Betty added.

"The kids!" Friar Tuck yelled, and they ran outside.

Betty grabbed the fire extinguisher from the wall. "Heads up!" She hastily put the fire out, then she and Minka looked in the microwave.

"Well, so much for dinner," Minka remarked in disappointment.

In the backyard, the turkey emerged from the mess of satellite dishes, to the toddlers' relief. Didi, Charlotte, Howard, Chaz, and Friar Tuck ran out in the yard to check on the kids. "What's that?" Chaz wondered aloud.

"A turkey?!" All the adults exclaimed in surprise.

"I told you!" Angelica pointed out.

Stu walked up to the mess, now angry. "That's the thing that ruined our football games!"

"It ruined my parade!" Angelica added.

Betty walked up to Howard. "It ruined my dinner!" The other adults agreed with her.

"Well, dinner's not _quite_ ruined," Drew pointed out, silencing everyone, "We still got _turkey!_ " The bird ducked down in fear.

An upset Shenzi ran up to Chuckie. "Chuckie, they're gonna eat Mr. Turkey!" She cried.

"It was nice knowing him," Chuckie frowned sadly.

"Not unless they eat me first!" Tommy led his friends to the turkey, and stood between him and the adults with determination.

"What? What are they doing?" Chaz wondered aloud.

"It looks like they're protecting the turkey," Stu pointed out.

"Why would they want to do that?" Betty asked around.

Friar Tuck understood when Shenzi looked pitifully. "Ohh. They must think we want to eat him."

"Well, don't we?" Charlotte asked him. "It ruined our Thanksgiving!"

"No!" Didi protested. "This turkey didn't ruin our Thanksgiving; _We_ did! We've spent the whole day arguing about what to eat, and what to watch!" She walked up to Betty and Charlotte. "Thanksgiving isn't about football or food, or parades!"

"Well, you didn't see _my_ parade!" Angelica pointed out.

"Thanksgiving is about family, and friends, and if our children can make friends with this turkey, I think we ought to be able to be friends with each other! So, all of you, apologize to your friends right now!"

Betty and Charlotte shared a hug of apology. "Betty, I'm sorry!"

"Happy Thanksgiving there, huh? Aw, lookit, Charlotte, I-I-I'm really sorry!"

"Fine, friends I like!" Boris gave in. "But what are we going to eat? Everything is kaput!" Tommy walked up to him with a box of Reptar cereal.

"We-e-ell, looks like our little Native Americans have a suggestion!" Betty picked up Phil and Lil in both arms. "What do you say, guys? Feel like sharing your chow?" The twins giggled in approval, as Howard patted Lil's head.

That night, the whole group had their dinner outside on a long table. "I never thought I'd be so thankful!" Stu remarked, pouring Reptar cereal in everyone's bowls.

"I'm just thankful that we're all together," Didi added while holding a pitcher of milk. Angelica, who had been looking forward to having turkey, stared at her empty bowl with anger.

At the kids' table, a joyful Lil was holding and squirting two milk bottles in her hands. "This is the best Hanksgiving I ever had!"

"It's the _only_ Hanksgiving you ever had, Lillian," Phil pointed out.

Tommy stood up in his seat for an announcement. "I wanted to say thanks, for you guys are my friends!"

"Yeah, and that we're not eatin' Mr. Turkey!" Chuckie added. On the patio, Spike shared his dog food with the turkey.

Meanwhile, Boris turned to the newcomer of the friends. "So, you're the new neighbor Didala told me about?"

"Yes sir," Friar Tuck nodded.

"Your little bubula is very cute," Minka remarked about Shenzi, "Pretty too." The child was drinking soy milk out of her bottle.

"Thanks," He smiled at his daughter, "She's the best thing I have in my life." She used her spoon on her own with a bit of struggle, but managed to get the cereal, which had no milk, in her mouth.

So in conclusion, despite the mess with the turkey, everyone had a great, yet eventful Thanksgiving day.

* * *

 **(A/N: Well, that concludes the Thanksgiving special! You know the disclaimer. I wanted Friar Tuck and Shenzi to meet Boris and Minka in this chapter, so I extended the ending.)**


	14. Ch 13: The Family Tree Pt 1

**(A/N: This chapter, and the next one, will be based on "The Family Tree". Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 13

* * *

At a special party, which was for Stu and Didi's anniversary, the adults sang "Happy Anniversary" for them, then the couple of the hour blew out the candles on the tall cake, so everyone cheered.

The toddlers sneaked a peek from under the table, then went back to hiding. "I don't think it's my mommy's birfday," Tommy shook his head, "And I don't think it's my daddy's birfday. And I'm pretty sure it's not my birfday."

"I know! I know!" Chuckie piped up. "Maybe somebody's gettin' married!"

"It's not a wedding!" Angelica glared at them, holding Cynthia in one hand. "It's a nursery party!"

"A nursery party?" Chuckie was confused, as were the others.

"But Tommy's mommy and daddy don't go to nursery school," Shenzi pointed out.

"It's a party to celebate that you've been friends for a long time," Angelica lectured them, "Like since nursery school. Get it?"

"I think so," Tommy replied, "'Cept me and Chuckie have been friends for a long time, and we didn't have a party."

"Yeah! We've been friends..." Chuckie paused to think, "Uh," He tried to count on his fingers, "8... um, forever." He and Tommy then smiled together, and with a huff, Angelica turned away and brushed Cynthia's hair.

Meanwhile, Shenzi's grandmother, Siobhan, was showing Minka Friar Tuck's baby pictures from one of his father's albums. She has served as the former's mother figure since his own passed on before Shenzi's birth. Her own husband had died some time before then. "And this is little Tucky when he was 6 months old. Wasn't he sweet?"

"That's a very unusual climp," Minka remarked. It looked like a bread roll.

"It's actually a puff pastry. His mother baked it herself with a pincher," Siobhan giggled, "According to her, Tucky smelled like butter for a week. Oh! Is that a bun cake?" She walked to the food table, passing by Friar Tuck's father. He beared a strong resemblance to his son, other than the obvious age difference. He was a bit thinner as well.

"Yeah, Becky always went easy on the boy," Henry Tuck chatted with Boris, "Lucky he had me to make him a man. Taught him to swim on his 1st birthday." They headed for the food table. "Tossed him into Lake Michigan with a life preserver."

"We didn't have lakes in the old country," Boris shook his head, "Only puddles in the potato fields."

"Oh Henry, I wish we could've each had more children," Siobhan lamented. The fact that both of her daughters, Maya and Shenzibeth, the latter who was her only grandchild's namesake, had died only worsened her pain.

"Yeah, would've been nice to have a bunch of young'ns running around," He agreed, and they turned to his son.

"It's great that your dad and mother-in-law could make it to the party," Stu walked up to him, "And those pictures are a scream."

"Uh, yeah, yeah, haha," Friar Tuck awkwardly agreed, "I invited them over for this weekend, so they can help me with my family tree I've been working on."

"Congratulations, bro," Drew praised Stu, "Great party."

"What do you mean our credit line fell through?!" Charlotte walked by them, talking on her phone like she always did, and up to her sister-in-law. "Didi, we need a big favor."

"Char, it's their anniversary," Drew came up to her.

"Right, congratulations, many happy years. Look, the Yamaguchi deals hit a snag, and I need to spend the weekend in Tokyo. Drew's gonna have to come with me to work out the kinks in the IPO numbers. Do you think you can watch Angelica?"

"Um, well, I suppose so," Didi agreed.

"Great! Come on, Drew. We can still make the 3:15 flight." She then went back to her phone conversation. "Yes, Hiroshi, I'm on my way."

"Uh, Stu?" Didi tried to call him over, but was too quiet.

"Well Deed," Betty walked up to her. "You made it 5 years. After this, tall gravy."

"Thanks for throwing such a nice anniversary party for us, Betty."

"Ah, it's nothin', Deed. You two deserve it! And not a moment too soon. Howard's getting the house sprayed for bugs tomorrow, and we needed to clean out the cabinets." Howard set a cardboard box on the table, then waved his hand with a sheepish grin after hearing the conversation.

After the DeVilles left her alone, Stu walked up. "Well Deed, now's a good time as any to give you my gift." He took a pamphlet out of his shirt pocket, and gave it to her.

"Oh, Stu!" She looked at the cover, and drew out two tickets. "A cruise to Panteones, Mexico this weekend!" She then remembered her promise to her in-laws. "Oh, but I just told Charlotte we'd watch Angelica."

"But Deed, these tickets are nonrefundable!" Stu protested. "Isn't there someone else who can watch Tommy _and_ Angelica?"

"Well, Pop's off fishing with his friends from the lodge. Chaz and Chuckie will be at Shirley and Marvin's house overnight. Betty's having the house fumigated, and..."

"Ah! Now we have to eat cake," Boris turned to Minka, "When will this end?"

"I know, I know," Minka agreed with his discomfort, "We've been off our feet for an hour already."

"And I don't think my parents are up to it."

"I can't believe we can't find somebody to take care of two great little kids!" Stu vented. Henry and Siobhan overheard him and stopped in their tracks.

l-l

The following weekend, the group bid Stu and Didi farewell before the cruise ship would set sail. "Bye, Tommy!" Stu called out to his son. "Byebye! You're the man of the house now, Tommy!"

"Bye, sweetheart!" Didi bid him farewell. "I love you, Tommy! Buh-bye!"

After the staircase was moved away, the cruise ship started moving with two horn honks. "Bon voyage!" Siobhan waved to the ship with her right hand, carrying a giggling Tommy in her left arm.

Later at the Tuck residence, Shenzi and Tommy were throwing her baby Minnie Mouse ball back and forth, when Angelica walked up to them. "You babies are _so_ lucky! You get to spend an entire weekend with me! That's right; A all-suspenses paid vacation in Angelica Land!" She sighed dreamily, and turned to Tommy. "Sometimes I wish I could be you, just so I can be friends with me." She walked back to the house, and the two toddlers simply went back to their game.

When the doorbell rang, Friar Tuck answered it, and Betty walked in the house with Phil and Lil in her arms. "Hey there, Tucky! How's it goin' with your old man and in-law, huh? Figured since they're giving you a hand, you wouldn't mind if I left my two over here." She took out a gas mask. "Those fumigators don't know what they're doin'." She then put the mask over her face, so her voice was muffled. "Bugs are laughin' at 'em. I figured I'd show 'em how it's done."

"I would, but I'm kind of busy working on my family tree." The twins glanced at each other, now curious. "

Great, great. It's all settled then." They flinched when Betty sat to their level with the mask on her head, before she took it off. "See you two pups later, huh?" She kissed their foreheads, then headed out with the mask back on. "Thanks a lot, buddy boy! I'll be back soon!"

"Uh but, but..." He tried to stop her, but gave in and closed the door. Two more toddlers couldn't hurt, right? At least he had some help this time.

Outside, Angelica was brushing Cynthia's hair as Shenzi and Tommy threw her ball back and forth, when Phil and Lil walked outside. "Yes it is, Philip!"

"No it isn't, Lillian!"

"What're you guys talking about?" Shenzi asked them.

"We're trying to figure out what a family tree is," Lil replied.

"I say it's a mommy, and a daddy, and a baby tree," Phil piped up.

"I think it's a tree where your whole family lives," Lil guessed, and looked up at the tall tree in the backyard, "If you're a monkey."

Angelica walked up to them, leaving Cynthia and her hair brush in the grass. "Don't you babies know nothin'?" They all shook their heads. "A family tree is a tree that babies grow on. Every family gots one."

"But the only tree we gots at our house grows oranges," Phil pointed out.

"They always start out as oranges. Or apples, or topatoes. Then they grow into babies."

"Wow!" The toddlers exclaimed in amazement.

"I bet you I was a apple," Tommy guessed, "I love apple juice."

"I like apple juice too," Shenzi agreed, "I also like apples baked, and sauced."

"And I bet you my family tree had big leaves, 'cause I love to play in piles of big leaves."

"I like doing that too, Tommy!" "Hmm, I think I just figured out why we're such good friends!"

"'Cause we both like apples and big leaves?"

"No, Shenzi. It's 'acause we both must've come from the same family tree. And that's gotta mean we're brothers!" She gasped in awe. "Or, well, brother and sister."

Shenzi thought about the concept for a moment. "Hey, I gots a brother!"

Lil sighed sadly, and looked at her pink shoes. "I wish I had one." She then saw Phil glaring at her. "Oh yeah, I do!"

"Oh brother," Angelica said to herself.

In the house, Friar Tuck was trying to figure out the family tree for both him and Maya, only to find his father asleep on the couch. "Tucky, where are the cookie sheets?" His mother-in-law asked him.

"In the cupboard on the left, Siobhan," Friar Tuck replied, "Can you check on the kids?"

"In a minute, honey. I just need to find the baking powder." She then walked back to the kitchen, leaving him to continue working.

Outside, Shenzi was on her hands and feet. "Come on, sister Shenzi!" He pushed on her backside, so she did a couple of somersaults.

He then helped her stand back on her feet. "Thank you, brother Tommy!"

Angelica walked up to them, "Well, since you two babies are brother and sister now, I guess you're gonna need _me_ to be your big sister. 'Course, then I'll have to show you how to get your daddy to buy you toys, and how to pretend you're crying. Maybe if you're _real_ nice to me, I'll teach you how to get cookies."

"No, uh, we don't need another sister, Angelica," Tommy kindly refused.

"But thanks anyway," Shenzi added, then walked away with her "brother".

On the cruise ship, Stu and Didi were relaxing in deck chairs. "You were right, Stu. I'm glad we did this. It's so romantic."

"Yeah, it sure is, Deed," He agreed with her, "It's just the two of us, enjoying the gentle rocking of the ship, the waves lapping up against the ho, the sweet smell of salt air." He went to kiss her, but she suddenly dashed away, making him fall over in surprise, and threw up over the dock and into the ocean.

At the Tuck house, Siobhan was making teddy bear shaped cookies while the kids played in the yard. At the other side of the tree, Angelica was only with Cynthia. "Oh, so they don't think they need me as a sister, huh?" She vented to her doll. "I'll show 'em, Cynthia. They'll be sorry they ever came off _any_ tree." Just then, the ball hit her head. "Ow!"

The toddlers gasped in fear. "Uh oh," Lil muttered.

Angelica picked the ball up from the grass. "You want your dumb ball? Go get it!" She threw it in the rose bushes.

Shenzi stood up, and headed for the bushes. "I'll get it, brother Tommy."

"It would be my pressure to get it, sister Shenzi," Tommy offered, then walked to the bushes.

In the house, Henry woke up, stretched his muscles, and stood to look out the glass door. "Yeah, takin' care of these little ones is no problem at all. They're as happy as clams." He watched his little granddaughter run in circles with the twins, then spotted Tommy by the bushes by himself. "Except for that little one, who's by himself."

"Huh?" Friar Tuck came to the door, and saw the bald baby alone. "Oh, it's Tommy. I wonder if something's wrong; Maybe he misses Stu and Didi. He must be suffering from separation anxiety. When a child's parents are away for an extended period, he or she will often feel severe loneliness."

"Horse hockey!" Henry brushed it off. "When you were a kid, we left you alone all the time! And you never had a problem with anxiety, did you?" He advanced on his nervous son.

"N-no Dad," He stammered, "But it's extremely important to give the child extra attention. If he or she doesn't get that, it could result in irreversible, psychological damage! I'd better hurry!" He slid the door open and walked outside, gaining Shenzi and the twins' attention so they stopped running.

"Lookee, it's my daddy!" Shenzi exclaimed happily. "He's comin' over to play with me!" She ran over to him with excitement, but stopped when he ran right past her. "Huh?"

Friar Tuck walked to the bush, and picked up a giggling Tommy. "Hey, little fella. Why are you playing all alone? Come on, we'll find something fun to do." He headed for the house.

Shenzi watched, as she tried to hide her disappointment. "I guess he didn't see me."

"Oh, poor Shenzi," Angelia came to her aid, "I knew this would happen."

"What?"

"Well, now that Tommy's your brother, your daddy gots to choose which one of you he's gonna keep. Face it, Shenzi; It's between you and Tommy. And no offense to you, but Tommy's a much better baby."

"No way, Angelica," Shenzi shook her head, "You've gotta be wrong. My daddy would never pick any other baby. He loves me; He tells me. He tolded me that when he gave me Chessy." She pointed to a small plush toy of the pink and purple striped Cheshire Cat, only for her father to give it to Tommy.

"Here Tommy, you can play with Chessy." He then walked in the house with him.

"Oh, look at that," Angelica turned to the younger girl, "Your daddy gave Tommy your favoritest toy."

Shenzi tried not to break down, as she found a Coke bottle cap in the grass, and picked it up. She blew the dirt off, and gazed at it. "Well, at least I still got my lucky... thingie." She sniffled, and tears fell down her cheeks.

* * *

 **(A/N: There's part 1! You know the disclaimer.)**


	15. Ch 14: The Family Tree Pt 2

**(A/N: Well, here's part 2 of "The Family Tree." Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 14

* * *

In the house, the 3 adults were on the living room couch, as Tommy sat in Henry's lap, playing with toy cymbals. "That's it, Tommy," Friar Tuck looked to him with concern, "Express your loneliness. Let it all out."

Shenzi and the twins watched from the hallway, then hid behind the wall. "Oh no! Now my grandpa is playing with Tommy too!"

"Yeah," Lil showed sympathy for the older girl, "I guess you're gonna have to find a new daddy, and a new grandpa. Hey, you can live with us!"

"Yeah! You can share our daddy!" Phil agreed. "And Lil can go live in the forest. We need only one girl." Lil glared at him.

"Thanks guys, but... it's just not the same," She walked up to Angelica.

"Well Shenzi, there is one way to get your daddy back," She informed her, "But it's... nah, forget it."

"What? Tell me!" Shenzi begged. "I can do it! I swear!"

"Well, alls you gotta do is do some bad things, and make your dad think it was Tommy. Then he'll figure Tommy is a worser baby than you."

"Oh, I dunno about that," Shenzi hesitated, "That sounds mean."

"Do you want your daddy back, or not?"

She looked back in the living room, saw him bouncing a giggling Tommy in his lap, and envy took over. "Okay! I do! I want him back! I'll do it, I'll do it!" She glared in determination.

"I don't know, Tucky, he seems quite happy to me," Siobhan remarked as Tommy crawled in her lap. She then gave him a teething toy, which looked like two pink cherries on a yellow stem with green leaves, to chew on. "Here you go, sweetie."

"Well Siobhan, we shouldn't be misled by happiness. We should reinforce his comfort with a family activity. Hmm, but what?"

"I know!" Siobhan had an idea. "Let's bake something!"

"That's a great idea!" They walked into the kitchen, leaving Henry alone.

"Who could've seen _that_ coming?" He asked himself.

On the cruise ship, Didi had to lay in bed with a wet washcloth on her head for her nausea. "Oh Stu, I'm sorry. I'm ruining our vacation."

"Don't be silly, Deed. We don't need to be up on the deck with the games, and the dancing, and the parties, and the... excitement. It's all very overrated." He sat on the bed. "I like being here in the room. It's nice! It's uh, fun."

"Oh Stu, you're such a good..." She held hands with him, and their heads rested together, "Such a good, good..." She dashed into the bathroom, and stood at the sink to try to regain herself. "Oh Deed, I just found some instructions for curing seasickness."

"Read them quick, Stu. I need the cure right now!"

"Oh, hey Deed, did you know how our mattress functions as a floatation device?"

"Stu!"

At the Tuck house, Siobhan poured some cherries in a bowl for a pie, as Tommy watched with a spoon in hand, while sitting in Friar Tuck's lap. "Tucky, I think you're all out of vanilla extract."

"Oh dear."

"No matter; I always carry a spare in my purse." She headed for the living room to get her purse.

Shenzi and Angelica watched from outside as Tommy waved the spoon around in excitement. "Now my grandma's baking a pie with him! She used to bake her pies with me!" She hid her face in her hands.

"Hey son," Henry walked in the kitchen, holding the TV remote in one hand, "How do you work this thing? And where are the rabbit ears?"

"It, it's cable, Dad," Friar Tuck stammered, "Here, I'll show you." He followed him back to the living room after setting Tommy on the floor.

"Hey, Tommy!" Angelica walked up in front of him. "How's it goin'? Having fun with Mr. Shenzi's Dad?"

"Yeah, I guess so, but every time I try to go play with you guys, he keeps making me play with _him._ "

"Well, now that you and Shenzi are brother and sister, Mr. Tuck just wants you to feel like..." As Angelica distracted Tommy, Shenzi sneaked in, "You know, you're part of the family. He wants you to be a Tuck." Shenzi dumped the bowl of cherries on the table and floor, then swiftly pushed the eggs, salt, and butter down on the floor. "Think like a Tuck, and uh, smell like a Tuck." Shenzi slammed the flour bag on the floor.

"That's nice of him."

"And, if you don't mind me saying so, Tommy, I don't think you're being very grateful."

"You don't?"

"If I were you, I would be a lot nicer to Shenzi's dad. I know that would make Shenzi feel more like you're her brother."

"Well, I guess I could give him a hug or something," Shenzi sneaked back outside as Tommy hesitated, "I don't want Shenzi to feel bad."

"Well, gotta go," She walked out of the kitchen after seeing the younger girl sneak out. Tommy turned around, and was surprised at the mess.

Friar Tuck walked back in the kitchen, TV remote in hand, with Siobhan. "I'll just get some fresh batteries." He then saw the mess. "Oh dear!"

"Whoa! Looks like the little tyke made a mess," Henry remarked.

"Maybe he doesn't like cherries," Siobhan guessed.

"No, no! It's a cry for help! Poor little fella." He picked him up. "I'm clearly not giving him enough attention." He playfully kissed his head.

"I hope our little granddaughter won't get jealous," Henry whispered to Siobhan.

"Well, Shenzi," Angelica turned to the heartbroken child, "It looks like we're gonna have to get tough. Come on." She led her away from the door.

"Okay Tommy," Friar Tuck sat at his computer with the bald baby, "You see here? This is what our family tree looks like." He pointed to the screen, to the head at the top of the tree. "There's Shenzi, right at the top. Then here..." He was cut off by Phil and Lil screaming as they ran in the house. "Oh dear! Um, now you stay here," He set Tommy on the floor, "And I'll be right back." He rushed out of the room to see what upset the twins.

Shenzi peeked in the room from the patio door, then turned to Tommy. "Hi, Shenzi!"

"Oh, hi Tommy," She had her hands together behind her back, "How's my daddy?" She glared.

"He's great!" Tommy replied, trying to sound happy. "He's the bestest daddy in the whole wide world! We're having a really, really fun time!" Shenzi felt devastated at that. Was he really going to replace her? "What's this for?" He asked her after noticing the garden hose behind her back.

"That?" She held up the nozzle. "Uh... my... daddy. He wants you to... help him water the plants!" She giggled nervously, then headed back outside.

"Okay, Shenzi, if you say so. I'll just stand here, and wait for him."

"Yeah, yeah, I say so. Wait right there." She walked to the hose faucet and turned it on, so to Tommy's shock, it started spraying all over the room! Surprisingly, and thankfully, the computer was untouched.

Just then, Friar Tuck walked back in with Phil and Lil when he saw what was happening. "Tommy, no!" He ended up getting sprayed by accident.

"Okay, now balance the water, and suck on the lemon," Stu instructed Didi, who was trying to balance a glass of water on her forehead. Before she could suck on the lemon, she retched and ran in the bathroom. "Or was it suck on the water, and balance the lemon? Maybe we should call the nurse."

Friar Tuck walked in the living room, dripping hose water on the floors, and set Tommy on the couch. "Okay uh, now you just wait here, Tommy, while I clean up the other room. Here, play with Chessy."

"Tommy's the bestest baby there ever was," Shenzi lamented as she and the twins watched from outside, "He... deserves to have my daddy. I guess when I was

born, I just wasn't ripe yet, or something. Maybe I never... should've been borned at all. I'm just gonna go back to where I came from." She headed for the tree.

"Wow! Poor Shenzi!" Phil remarked.

"Yeah, I never sawed her this sad a'fore," Lil agreed.

On the couch, Tommy was playing with Chessy and the cherry teether when Angelica came up, feigning sympathy. "Gee Tommy, I guess this whole brother sister thing isn't working out so well, huh?"

"Oh, it's okay, Angelica. But, Shenzi's just been nobody's sister yet. She doesn't know how to do it."

"But she did all that bad stuff that you got blamed for!"

"I guess so, but she didn't mean it."

"Didn't mean it?! Don't you get it?! Shenzi did all that stuff on purpose!"

"Nah, you're wrong, Angelica. Shenzi would never do that."

"You must be the dumbest baby in the whole world! Shenzi did all those bad things in order to get you in trouble! So her daddy would want her back!" Tommy looked hurt at that. "Yeah, that's right! To get you in trouble! It's the truth, and I know it, 'cause I told her to do it, 'cause you wouldn't let me be your sister!" She finished with a yell, then turned away. She then gasped upon realizing she revealed too much, then turned to him.

"Tommy!" Phil and Lil burst into the living room, as Lil called for the bald baby. "Shenzi's going away!"

"You've gotta stop her!" Phil added, and he and Lil led Tommy outside. "She was right here when she said she shouldn't have been borned, and she wanted to go back to where she came from!"

"But where did Shenzi come from?" The twins shrugged and looked around, before Tommy saw the family tree on the computer. "I know! The family tree!" He pointed to the tree, and they walked up to it.

"Do you think this is it?" Lil asked him.

"Shenzi only gots one tree."

Phil then saw the bottle cap abandoned in the grass, and picked it up. "Look! It's Shenzi's lucky... thing!"

Tommy took the cap, and looked up in the tree. "I don't see her up there. She must be all the way up at the top. I gotta go get her!" He stood on the twins' backs and reached for the lowest branch, but it was worn down, so it broke. He tried to reach for another one, but it was much too high. "I can't reach! If I was just a little bigger!" He then lost balance, and fell on the ground, resulting in Angelica laughing at him. "Angelica, you've gots to go up there, and get Shenzi down!"

"Forget it, baldy. Maybe when she's ripe, she'll fall down."

"Angelica, this is all your fault! You made up all that stuff about Shenzi and me, 'cause you was jelly-lous about being brother and sister!" He advanced on her, surprising her and the twins. "You want to be a big sister? Then go up that tree, and bring Shenzi back!"

"Whoa, that is one mad baby," Phil remarked.

"Alright, you little squirts, look out!" She jumped up on the twins' backs, but she too was unable to reach the lowest branch. "I can't reach it." She jumped back on the ground.

"I see her! I see her!" Lil exclaimed after seeing their friend's black hair and green skirt. She was facing away from them, with her arms crossed and a scowl.

"Shenzi, please come down!" Tommy pleaded. "I'm sorry!"

"I'm not coming down!" She boldly refused. "You can't make me, you, you... Daddy stealer!"

"I didn't mean to steal your dad away from you!"

"You did too! He likes you more than me, so I'm going back to where I came from!"

The toddlers on the ground looked to one another for a debate. "What'll we do?" Phil wondered aloud. "She won't come down on her own, and we can't go up and get her."

"Uh," Tommy tried to think, "We'll call the firemen!"

"Wait!" Angelica piped up. "I know what to do." She let in a deep breath, then let out a loud, shrill yell, making Tommy and the twins jump in surprise. "MR. SHENZI'S DAD!" The black-haired girl's eyes widened nervously.

Friar Tuck rushed outside with Henry and Siobhan following closely. "What's wrong, Ange..." He stopped when he saw his daughter up dangerously in the tree. "Shenzi! Get down from there! You could get hurt!" She stood her ground.

"She _is_ jealous," Henry whispered to Siobhan, "I knew it."

"Shenzi, get down!" Angelica kicked at the tree trunk as hard as she could, but was pulled back. No one noticed that Shenzi was now off balance.

"No, don't! She'll fall!" A small scream made him look up, and to his horror, she was falling! "Shenzi, no!" He managed to catch her before she could hit the ground, but when she landed, she started crying from the scare, her arms and legs flailing. "Shh, you're okay, baby," He tried to sooth and comfort her, "Daddy's got you, sweetheart." As he tried to calm her down, he couldn't help but mentally kick himself. While he was practically pampering Tommy, thinking he was lonely from his parents' absence, he was ignoring his own daughter! He was so stupid! How could he take his own flesh and blood for granted? "Shenzi, I'm sorry for ignoring you all day." She rubbed her eyes with her fists, now calm but still broken. "I never realized you were jealous." She sniffled, then laid on his shoulder. "I hope you can forgive me, although I would not blame you if you won't." She let a smile grow, as she was now quiet. "I'll take that as a yes." He held her closer. "I love you, sweetheart. No one could ever replace you."

"I'm glad everything's settled," Henry smiled at the scene.

"Okay, my little cupcake," Siobhan ruffled Shenzi's hair, "Grandma's going to get more ingredients, so we can bake a pie together!" The black-haired toddler showed excitement. "I won't be too long, sweetie." She then left the property, to go to the grocery store. The two men brought the kids back into the house, where they would all be safe and sound.

"Tommy, do you still think we're brother and sister?" Shenzi asked him meekly after they were in the living room.

"I don't know, Shenzi," Tommy shrugged, "No offense, but... I don't think we're _that_ right for each other."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, sure, we both like apples and big leaves, but I think that's the only thing we really have in common."

"True. Um, I'm sorry I calledid you a Daddy stealer."

"It's okay. We may not be compable brother and sister, but we'll always be friends. Hey! I know a brother for you!"

"Who?"

"Chuckie! You guys have much more in common!"

"Hmm, hey, that's true!" She agreed with him.

Stu entered the ship's infirmary, where Didi was laying on the bed, after the nurse opened the door for him. "So, are you feeling better, honey?"

"I'm feeling wonderful!" She stood on the floor. "Stu, we're going to have a baby!"

"Deed!" They shared a hug, before she threw up on his back and shoulder. "Well, I guess I'm gonna have to get used to that again."

* * *

 **(A/N: And thus "The Family Tree" is concluded. You know the disclaimer.)**


	16. Ch 15: Mother's Day Pt 1

**(A/N: This chapter, and the next one, is and will be based on the episode "Mother's Day", hence the title. Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 15

* * *

On a nice afternoon in May, the toddlers, minus one, were gathered in the living room, as Tommy was throwing macaroni in the air like it was confetti. "Hey! What're you babies doing with my macaroni?" She glared at them.

"We was just playing with it, Angelica," Tommy replied.

"Well, it's _not_ for playing with!" She took the bowl away. "If you knowed anything, you'd know that you use macaroni to make art." She was making a sculpture of her own head with the macaroni.

"Is that art?" Tommy asked her.

"Of course it's art! _I_ made it, didn't I? And I'm an artist!"

"Hey, this is pretty good," Phil remarked.

"She really _is_ a artist," Lil agreed with him.

"What are you making with it, Angelica?" Tommy asked his cousin.

"It's a present for my mom!"

"What for?" Phil wondered aloud.

"You babies are so dumb, I can't believe you lived to be 1! Today is Mother's Day!"

"What's Mother's Day?" Tommy asked her.

"Mother's Day is the day everybody gives their mom presents!" Angelica squirted glue on the floor. "Oops." She rubbed it into the carpet with her foot.

"Why do we gots to give them presents just for being moms?" Lil asked her.

"Well, in _your_ case, it's to say you're sorry."

"Then why do you got to give _your_ mom a present?" Tommy asked her in confusion.

"So she'll have _2_ of me. Now get outta here, and let me work!" She ordered them, and they ran away.

"We don't gots a present for _our_ mom, Philip," Lil pointed out.

"Oh, I got a piece of candy I've been saving!" Phil tried to pull it out, but it was stuck to his shorts, on the inside. "It's stuck."

"I bet if we look around, we can find stuff our moms would like," Tommy came to help them.

"Where should we look?" Lil asked him.

"Where do we find the best presents for each other?" Tommy quizzed them. They then spotted the couch, and walked up to look under the cushions.

Upstairs, Didi was getting ready to spend the day with her mother. "So, what's Howard doing for you today?" She asked Betty.

"Ah, gave 'im the day off. What's he gonna do, cook me breakfast? He does that every day. So, what're you gonna do with your mom today, huh?"

"I'm taking her to my favorite health spa."

"The International House of Mud? Great choice, Deed!"

"I sure hope she enjoys herself," Didi put on one of her regular red dresses, and her yellow bead necklace, "The last thing Mom and I both liked was my troll costume for the 3rd grade pageant. Actually I hated that," She remembered.

"Hey, look!" Lil held up Lou's glasses.

"What'd you find?" Tommy asked her.

"I dunno," She put them on her face.

"Those are Grandpa's glasses," Tommy pointed out.

"Too bad it's not Grandpa Day," Phil remarked.

"I found a cookie!" Tommy grabbed a cookie from the couch. "You think my mom would like it?" But strangely, the twins grabbed it and ate it up.

"Uh huh," Lil answered his question.

"Uh huh," Phil added.

"You guys! Our moms work real hard to be our moms! We can't go eating their presents!"

"Sorry," Phil looked at the floor in shame, and Lil simply burped.

Stu peered into the living room from the hallway, then walked off. "You know they import mud from all around the world for that spa?" Betty asked Didi.

"I know! I can hardly wait!"

"Well Deed," Stu peeked into the room, "It's here. Get ready for the ultimate breakfast in bed."

"Stu, it's practically lunchtime," Betty pointed out.

"I had a few technical difficulties."

"Oh, that's okay, dear," Didi climbed into bed, "It's the thought that counts."

"Clap on!" Stu clapped his hands twice, and on cue, a machine came rolling in.

"Wow!"

"It's... it's lovely."

"It's a vacuum cleaner."

"Oh, it's much more than that," Stu informed them, "Watch!" He sat on the bed, and clapped 3 times, and on cue, the machine pulled out a blender. "Deed, you know that shake you love so much?" The machine took out a banana, an apple, and some grapes, then dumped them in the blender. But as it mixed the fruits, it started making a big mess in the room, spraying smoothie everywhere!

"Oh dear!" Didi exclaimed.

"Clap off! Clap off!" Stu tried to deactivate it, but to no avail. But it then started cleaning up the mess it made on its own.

"Well, at least it cleans up after itself," She showed positivity.

Some time later, the doorbell rang, so Didi answered. "Hi, Tuck," She greeted the guest.

"Hey guys," Friar Tuck walked in, with Shenzi in one arm, and a shoe box in the other. He carefully set his daughter on the floor. "Have fun, Shen." She eagerly ran into the living room. "Uh, Didi? Can I talk to you for a minute? Um, alone?"

Before she could respond, there was a loud bang in the kitchen, surprising the adults. "No, not that eggbeater!" Stu yelled, and ran when the machine chased him, before he fell down the stairs into the basement.

"You two chat," Betty decided, "I'll go make sure Einstein is still in one piece." She headed for the basement stairs.

"Hi guys," Shenzi walked up to Tommy and the twins, "What'cha doing?"

"Looking for a Mother's Day present," Tommy replied, "Where's Chuckie?"

"He and his daddy are at a zoo for the day," She replied, "What's Mother's Day?"

"It's a day everybody gives their moms stuff, 'cause... we aren't Angelica," Phil replied, getting ear wax on his finger, and wiping it on his duck shirt.

"You want to look with us?" Tommy asked her.

"Okay," She agreed, "But who would I give a present to?"

"Oh yeah," Lil remembered, "You don't gots a mom, do you, Shenzi?"

"Nope."

"How come?" Phil asked her.

"I dunno," She shrugged, "I just don't gots one."

"Well, you can still come with us," Tommy offered, and the twins nodded.

"Um, you guys go ahead. Mother's Day is for kids who got moms." Shenzi sat on the floor. "I'll just stay here." They then left her be.

"Well, I was wondering if you could do me a favor, and hold onto this for a while," Friar Tuck showed Didi the box.

"What is it?" She asked him.

"It's a box of stuff that belonged to Shenzi's mom," He replied, thankful that Shenzi was oblivious to the conversation, as she played with blocks. "I don't want her to find it."

"Well, okay," She agreed.

"I really think it's best. I mean I was looking at her things, y'know 'cause it's Mother's Day. Actually, I was just looking in the box," He admitted, "But well, technically, I was in the other room thinking about the box, and..."

"I know it's been hard for you since Maya..." She cut off his rambling, but was interrupted herself.

"No, no, no! I'm fine, really! No, it's Shenzi. You see, well, she's been getting into everything now, and I just..."

"I understand," She assured him, and hid the shoe box in the hall closet, "I'll take care of it."

"Well uh, um, goodbye." After the closet door was shut, he left.

"Well, even Howard had his off days," Betty assured Stu, as he attempted to fix the machine, "'Course, he made things that were useful. What's this?"

"Only the central programmer for the entire mamma sister project," Stu replied, "I've programmed this baby with everything there is to know about being a mom."

" _You_ told this thing about being a mom?" She questioned him in surprise, then turned to the computer. "Let me see that."

"I think I found the problem," Stu then closed a lid on the vacuum cleaner, "Good as new." But just then, the machine started running on its own.

"And after puttin' your baby to bed, be sure to rub your husband's feet 10 minutes every night?" Betty read out loud in disbelief. "That thing has no idea what it means to be a mother!" The vacuum was trying to suck up Stu's head. "No wonder it doesn't work!" She then proceeded to type in new commands.

Outside, Tommy and the twins were searching for good presents in the backyard. "I got a worm," Phil pulled a worm out of the dirt.

"We gave her one for Christmas," Lil pointed out.

"Oh yeah," He dropped it back in the hole.

"How about...?" Lil tried to reach a dandelion, but tripped over the tree trunk, and the dandelion tickled her nose, so she sneezed and the fuzzies flew away. "Never mind."

"Hey guys," Shenzi caught one of the fuzzies in her hands, "Find anything good yet?" She blew the fuzzy away.

"No, not yet," Tommy replied.

"Finding good presents is hard," Phil remarked.

"Yeah," Lil agreed, "'Member the first present we ever gave our mom?" She asked him.

"You mean before the worm?"

"Um hm," She nodded, "Back when we used to be hungry all the time, remember?"

l-l

 _Some time earlier, Betty was feeding Phil and Lil the natural way, before they would start on bottles. "Mommy would come in, and feed us the old way."_

 _"Oh yeah," Phil remembered._

" _You'd be on one side, and I was on the other," Lil told the story. In the flashback, the tiny twins stopped sucking, and each let out their first laughs, to Betty's delight._

l-l

"Our first laugh," Phil reminisced, playing footies with Lil.

"Mommy says that was the best present we ever gave her."

"I 'member the first time I saw my mom," Tommy began to share a memory, "I think I was in a fish tank or something."

l-l

 _In actuality, Tommy was in an incubator after his birth, because he had arrived 2 months early. "It seemed like nobody knowed I was there," Tommy narrated in the present time, "And it was scary." Then, Didi walked up to the incubator. "And then my mom came. I don't think I even knowed she was my mom then." She reached in one of the holes, and let him grasp onto her finger with his tiny hand. "But when she held my hand, I didn't feel scared anymore. As long as I was there, she never let go."_

l-l

"I wish I could 'member stuffs like that," Shenzi commented.

"Don't you 'member ever having a mom?" Lil asked her.

"Nope. Sometimes I dream about having a mom, though. It's always the same dream too. We're always outside, and there's lots of grass, and flowers."

l-l

 _Little Shenzi was in her home backyard, when a young woman who greatly resembled her, came in view. "I think she likes flowers." She picked Shenzi up in her hands. "And there's a butterfly." A butterfly flew around her head, "And I'm not even afraid of it." She tried to grab the butterfly, but it flew too high up._

l-l

"Then what happens?" Lil asked her.

"Then I wake up," She replied, "And usually, I go potty."

"That's a real nice dream, Shenzi," Tommy complimented her.

"Yeah! But it's only a dream. And you can't give presents to a dream."

"You know what I think we should do?" Tommy had an idea. "I think we should find Shenzi a mom!"

"A mom? For me?" Shenzi was surprised, and flattered. "Could we do that?"

"Sure! We found your shoes the day the mud ate them, didn't we? And we even found Phil's cricket after Mom washed the pants it was in."

"Well, most of it," Lil added, as Phil stifled laughter.

"After that stuff, finding a mom should be easy."

l-l

In the house, they found a dressmaker mannequin, so Shenzi tried to hug it around the waist, although it rocked back and forth. "How's she feel, Shenzi?" Phil asked her.

"Uh, kinda cold and bumpy," She slid down, and landed on a smiley face bucket, "It's not really what I esspected."

"I'm sorry, Shenzi," Tommy laid a hand on her shoulder, "My mom makes dresses on her, and she sorta looks like a mom."

"That's okay, Tommy. At least I got a hug... sorta."

"I think we should find Shenzi a mommy who can give kisses too," Lil suggested.

They went in the kitchen, where Spike was chewing on a bone. "Kiss her, Spike," Tommy gently urged him, "Go on."

Shenzi gulped nervously as Spike walked up to her, then sloppily licked her face. "Yuck!" She wiped his drool off.

"Maybe Spike could do other nice stuff," Lil thought aloud.

"Yeah, like getting Shenzi a cookie," Phil suggested.

"Okay Spike," Tommy turned to the dog, "Get Shenzi a cookie." To their delight, he headed for the counter with the cookie jar. "Wow, he's doin' it!" Phil pointed out, but turns out, he was just going for his water bowl.

Shenzi tried to think positively. "Hey, look!" Spike was scratching himself behind his ear. "He's waving at me! Hi, Mom!" She waved her hand to him.

"Um, Shenzi? I think he's just scratching a flea," Tommy cautiously pointed out.

She awkwardly stopped waving, and clasped her hands behind her back. "Oh, yeah."

"Y'know, I think moms are apposed to be people," Phil pointed out.

"Yeah," Lil agreed, "And I think that they're apposed to be girls too."

On the couch, she had the role of Shenzi's play mother, with a tissue box and a bottle close by. She had the older girl's head in her lap. "The first thing we've got to do, is clean that messy, messy baby face."

She then spit on Shenzi's face, to her chagrin. "Hey!" Lil started wiping her now wet face.

"I think you're apposed to spit on the tissue," Phil pointed out.

"Oh well," Lil threw the tissue away, then grabbed the bottle, "Drink your baba, baby!"

"Where'd you get that bottle, Lillian?" Shenzi asked her cautiously.

"Under the figerator, baby Shenzi." She then stuck the bottle nipple in Shenzi's mouth. "I licked all the ants off."

She spat the bottle out in disgust, along with the milk, then wiped her tongue. "I can't have milk, Lil! It hurts my tummy!"

"Oh yeah! I forgotted about that! Sorry."

Meanwhile, Lou had fallen asleep in front of the TV, as per usual, while Angelica was searching through the short bookshelf drawers. "How do they esspect me to make art, when they don't even give me enough glue? I mean, why do I have to spend the whole day workin' like a hog, just 'cause it's Mother's Day." She then took out a bottle of Elmer's glue. "Oh, here's some." She then headed back for the living room. "I wish I was a mom today. Then somebody would have to do everything for _me._ "

"Come on, little Shenny-Wenny," Lil chased Shenzi around, "Time to burp the naughty baby!"

"Stop it, Lil! I don't need a burp!" She then stopped running. "'Sides, you're a worser mom than Spike! You spit on my face, you gave me ant milk!"

"You're just cranky, 'cause you need a nap." Lil tried to pick her up, but she was too heavy for her, so she accidentally threw her, so she landed head-first in the bucket, then rolled onto her backside.

"Shenzi, are you okay?" Tommy asked her in concern.

"I'm fine," She replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Let's just face it, Tommy," She pulled the bucket up, so her face was revealed, "We're not gonna find me a mom."

Just then, Angelica walked up to them. "What's her problem?"

"Shenzi's sad, 'cause she don't got a mom," Phil replied.

"No, I'm not!" She hid her face again.

"Shenzi wants a mom?" Angelica asked them in surprise.

"Yeah," Tommy replied, "Lil didn't work out too good."

"I was doing better than Spike!" Lil exclaimed, crossing her arms.

"Not much," Shenzi pointed out.

"Hmm," Angelica had an idea, "I suppose _I_ can be her mom."

Shenzi took the bucket off her head. "You'd do that for me?"

"Well, I would, but being a _good_ mommy is such hard work, and as you know, I'm very busy with my macaroni head."

"I can help you," Shenzi stood up.

"No! You'd do that for _me,_ Shenzi?"

"Sure, Angelica! I'll do anything if you'll be my mommy!"

"Well... okay!" She agreed, and laid a hand on her shoulder. "My princess." She snickered evilly to herself.

* * *

 **(A/N: There's part 1! You know the disclaimer.)**


	17. Ch 16: Mother's Day Pt 2

**(A/N: Here's part 2 of "Mother's Day." Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 16

* * *

In the living room, Shenzi was working on Angelica's macaroni head, when Tommy and the twins walked up to her. "Hey, Shenzi," Tommy greeted her.

"Hey, guys. What're you doing here?" "We just thought we'd come and see how you're doing."

"Yeah, we felt sorry for you, 'cause you gots Angelica for a mom," Phil added.

"Sorry for me?" Shenzi asked incredulously. "You guys, Angelica is the bestest mom in the world! She told me so herself."

"That's great, Shenzi. You want to come help us finish looking for presents?"

"Oh, I can't, you guys. I've gotta finish Angelica's, uh, I mean, _Mom's_ macaroni head." She squirted a bunch of glue over the face.

"And _then_ you can come help us look for presents?" Tommy asked her.

"Sorry, Tommy, but after I've finished this, my Angelica mom is taking me to the park. And then she's gonna buy me a monkey, and a roly poly, and my very own cowboy tide."

"Wow, she's better than our mom," Phil remarked to Lil.

Just then, Angelica pushed in between them. "Hey, what're you babies doing here?"

"We were just talkin'," Tommy replied.

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, Ari is busy right now."

"Who's Ari?" Tommy asked her.

"She is," Angelica gestured to the younger girl, "Shenzi's a stupid name. Ari's a TV name. Everyone knows TV names are better. And since Ari is busy, you babies will just have to run along, and play your baby games. Right, Ari?"

"Um, right, Angelica Mom," She hesitantly replied.

"Okay, well, uh, bye Shenzi. I mean, Ari." Tommy walked away with the twins, as Shenzi, or Ari, kept working.

Meanwhile, Didi and Minka arrived at the spa. "Oh Mom, I just know you're going to love this place."

"Wonderful. I'll be scraping mud out of my wrinkles for weeks."

At the house, "Ari" was still at work on the macaroni head, and stuck the last piece on. "There! Look, Angelica Mom, I finished your macaroni head!"

"Oh Jonathan, you should see it!" Angelica pretended to talk with her mom's assistant. "My little Ari did such a good job! For a baby, that is. All she has left to do is put on a hat."

"A hat?"

"Why, of course, my little Ari-Wari. Everybody knows all good statues got hats. Now be a dear, and run along, and get a hat for mommy's head?"

"What kind?"

"Oh, just any old thing will do."

l-l

Shenzi, or Ari, tried a blue sunhat first. "Nah, too blue," Angelica rejected it, and a red cap was next. "Mm, too red." "Ari" tried a burnt-yellow-colored hat with a blue feather, a red bow on top, and a pink flower. "Um, too yucky." She tried a green striped nightcap next. "What am I, an elf?"

"I'm sorry, Angelica Mom, I'm trying."

"I know, Ari, and that's what's so sad. I'll tell you what; Forget the hat. Why don't we try a nice flower instead? Even _you_ ought to be able to pick a flower." They headed outside.

"Alright, new sub hity, social interaction," Betty started entering new information for the machine, "What to do when someone criticizes your child. Step 1, get the guy in a standard head lock." Stu, who was working on the machine, was surprised at that.

In the backyard, Phil and Lil tried to pull the tree out of the ground, but to no avail. "I wanna give her the tree, Lillian!" He complained.

"I saw it first, Philip!" She argued.

Meanwhile, Shenzi walked outside with Angelica, who was now in a pink and purple heart print bikini. "Are you sure we'll be all done when I get the flower?"

"Of course I'm sure! I'm the artist, aren't I?" Angelica then spotted a pale yellow dandelion in the grass, and pointed to it. "I want that one!"

"Okay," Shenzi went to get it, while her "mom" headed off. But before she could grab the flower, a bee landed on it. "Bee!" She shuddered in fear.

"Oh, Ari! Where's my flower?"

"Uh, I'm getting it, Angelica Mom!" She nervously replied, then slowly reached over to grab the flower stem.

"What'cha doing, Shenzi?" Tommy made her flinch back from the bee.

"Just getting this flower for my mom," She replied.

"But that bumblebee is eating that one," Tommy pointed out.

"Well, this is the one she wants!" She protested.

"But Shenzi, they're all the same."

She paused for a moment, then spoke again. "Look, maybe to you guys, they're the same, and maybe you can get your moms any old present, but my Angelica mom is the onliest mom I got, and that's the onliest flower she wants."

Tommy stayed quiet, then nodded with the twins, deciding to do the right thing. "Come on, Shenzi, we're gonna have a talk with your mom." He led her to where Angelica was sunbathing with Cynthia on blue lawn chairs, wearing pink heart sunglasses. "Angelica!"

"What is it now?" She sat up.

"You gotta tell Shenzi she doesn't gotta get the flower with the bumblebee on it!" He stood up for his friend.

Angelica took off her sunglasses, and proceeded to give Shenzi a guilt trip. "Oh Ari, you don't have to get it for me. I'll just tell my mom there's no present for her this year." She then started crying crocodile tears.

"Don't cry, Angelica Mom! I'll get it!"

She then broke her sad act instantaneously. "Oh, great!" She then headed for the house, tossing her sunglasses in the grass. "I'll be watching TV."

Shenzi went up to the flower, trying to ignore the bee, and quickly plucked it and ran away. "I got it, I got..." She stopped and screamed when the bee flew in front of her. "Bee!" She ran in circles around Tommy and the twins, as they watched helplessly.

"Go, Shenzi, go!" Phil clapped his hands twice, unknowingly activating Stu's machine, which was being tampered with in the kitchen. On Phil's accidental cue, it started running on its own again, and ran outside.

Shenzi skidded to a stop upon seeing it coming right for her and turned to run the other way, but the bee flew right in her mouth. She spat it out, then ran away. She dove into the bush, and luckily for her, the machine narrowly missed her, sucking up dirt. "Oh, great," Stu remarked, watching from the patio and not seeing the toddler in the bush.

She saw that the flower she picked now only had one petal left on it. "Oh, great." She nervously walked in the house, as Angelica admired herself and the macaroni art in a handheld mirror. "Um, Angelica Mom? I got your flower." She held it up.

Angelica snatched it out of her hand. "That's not a flower! It's a green stick with a thing on it!"

"But, I, I did..."

"All I wanted was one flower for my macaroni head. Instead, you give me this? You know what this says?" She angrily plucked the petal out. "She loves me not!"

"I'm sorry, Angelica Mom!" Shenzi grabbed her ankles in desperation.

"Angelica, leave her alone!" Tommy defended her.

"And after all I've done for you! Fine! Go! Go and play with your baby friends!"

"But Angelica Mom, I..." Shenzi backed away nervously, but ended up knocking the macaroni head on the floor, accidentally destroying it!

" _My head!_ " Angelica screamed in terror, then sent the toddlers to the hall closet. "If you think _Grandpa's_ old, wait 'til you see how old you are when your time out is over! And as for _you,_ Shenzi, you can forget about having a mom! _Ever!_ " She slammed the door shut, although it stayed slightly ajar.

"You know, looking back on it, Spike was a pretty good mom," Tommy tried to think positively.

"This is my fault," Shenzi lamented, still holding the stem, "I don't deserve to have a mom."

"Sure you do, Shenzi," Tommy comforted her, "But you deserve a _good_ mom; Not like Angelica."

"Yeah," Phil agreed, "A mom who can kiss boo-boos and make them better." He took a band-aid off his arm.

"And help you do things you never thought you could do," Lil added, "Like walk."

"A mom who'd love you _and_ your flower. Even if it is just a green stick with a thing on it."

"Hey, I just thought of something," Shenzi piped up.

"What is it, Shenzi?" Tommy asked her.

"I sorta have a mom like that!"

"You do?" Lil confirmed.

"Yeah! My daddy!"

"Well, I guess your dad could be your mom," Tommy suggested.

"Sure! He's the bestest mom ever!"

"So you can look for a Mother's Day present with us after all!" He cheered.

"Yeah! I can!" Her friends cheered for her, and she joined them.

"How're we gonna find presents?" Lil wondered aloud after the cheers stopped. "Angelica put us in time out for the rest of our lives."

"Oh yeah." Tommy dug through a box, and pulled out an old plunger. "Hey, this'll make a good present!"

"Wow, there's lots of neat stuff in here!" Shenzi pointed out with excitement.

Lil dug through a certain shoe box, and took out a trowel. "What's this thing?"

Phil came over, and held onto it. "I dunno, but I could really eat a lot of dirt with it."

"Where'd you get that?" Tommy asked them.

"It was in this box," Lil replied.

"What else is in there?" Shenzi peeked in, along with Tommy and the twins.

"There's a book," Tommy took out a diary with two black roses on the cover.

"Ooh, does it gots pictures?" Lil asked him with interest.

"Just pictures of flowers." They were actual flowers; When Tommy moved the book, they fell out. "But they didn't glue them in very good."

Shenzi gasped in surprise, then turned to her friends. "Look, everybody! It's the lady I told you about! From my dreams!" They gathered to look at the picture she took out.

"She looks like you, Shenzi," Lil pointed out.

"Yeah!" Tommy nodded. "Only not as much hair. How can a grownup have less hair than a baby?"

"My daddy almost gots no hair at all," Shenzi shrugged.

"Mother needs wisdom for dealing with a fever of 105, and 3 AM on a Sunday," Betty entered the information, "And she's gotta have dignity, for when she's covered with spit-up in the supermarket. Plus strength, especially if she's got twins. And optimism, for when she hasn't got any of that stuff. Yeah," She wiped her forehead, "I guess that's about everything it takes to be a mother." She pressed enter, but the system was overloaded with the excessive info put in. "Now you know how I feel, cupcake." Betty then stood up. "Wait a minute."

Outside, Stu was trying to get the machine out of the dirt, when it started running on its own again. "Now what?"

Meanwhile, Charlotte came in the house. "Hello? Is anybody here?"

A sniffling Angelica came in with a plate of macaroni from the remains of her art. "Mommy?"

"Angelica, what's wrong?"

"I made you a really nice present, but those dumb babies ruined it! See?" She held the plate out.

"Oh sweetie, I love it! It's so... deconstructionist."

"Really?" Angelica smiled.

Then, Didi came back to the house with Minka. "A bath alone I like. A bath with strangers? Eh, not so much."

"Mom."

"I'm just saying, $80 for water and dirt."

In the basement, Betty was trying to cool off the computer by waving a blanket on it, but to no avail. The machine ran into the hall with Stu following. "It's gonna blow!" He screamed, and Charlotte and Angelica ran for cover.

"You can get mud for free from your own backyard." When Minka and Didi walked into the house, the machine exploded, leaving a muddy mess. "Or in your living room." Didi then started to cry in despair. "What is it Didala?"

"Oh Mom, I just wanted to do something we both like," She vented.

"You know what I like?" Minka hugged Didi. "This, I like."

Stu walked up to them sheepishly. "Um, Happy Mother's Day?" He held up a dandelion. Didi took it, then shared a laugh with him, her mother, and her sister-in-law.

"What's so funny?" Friar Tuck came in.

"I dunno," Betty joined them, "Have you seen the kids?" Just then, Phil and Lil tumbled out of the closet, fighting over the plunger Tommy found. "Phil, Lil, what're you kids doing in there?" They stopped, then held the plunger to her.

"Isn't that cute, Betty?" Didi marveled at the scene. "A Mother's Day present."

"Yep. Only the best from my pups."

Then, Tommy came up to Didi with a dandelion. "Aww, sweetie! One from each of my men."

Shenzi came up to Friar Tuck with the picture. "Hey, Shen." He knelt to her level. "Did you and your friends have fun to...?" He stopped when he saw the picture she held to him with an innocent grin. He looked around at everyone else, as the room was dead silent. "Oh, Shenzi, thank you," He took the picture, feeling uneasy, "Um, maybe we should keep this in a safe place for now." He walked away, leaving her feeling disappointed at his reaction.

"What's the matter, Shenzi?" Tommy asked her in concern.

"I dunno. I thought it was a really pretty picture. I guess my daddy doesn't like it, Tommy," She lamented in a hushed tone.

Friar Tuck went to put the picture back in the box, when Didi came for emotional support. "I think it's time you shared these things with Shenzi."

"Well, I'm just afraid she'll miss her."

"Then you can miss her together," She comforted him.

He decided she was right, and walked up to his waiting daughter with the picture. "Shenzi?" He knelt to her level. "This is your mommy." He gave her the picture.

l-l

Outside at home, he showed her everything in the box. "This was her trowel. It's a shovel for gardening." He gave it to her. "All those flowers? She planted those. She used to love to come out here, and play with you."

 _Some time earlier, Maya Tuck was out in the yard. When she picked up her daughter, a butterfly landed on the baby's head. "It's alright, Shenzi. Don't be scared." She managed to smile, as the butterfly flew away_

In the present time, Friar Tuck took out the book after Shenzi reminisced. "This was her diary. She started keeping it when... uh, when she was in the hospital."

Later on, she was innocently playing in the floral yard with her friends, feeling overjoyed. In the house, her father put the picture in a special frame, where anyone could see it. "See, guys? I do have a mom! She's right here in the flowers! And in the clouds, and in the grass too! And in the sun, and in the wind!"

* * *

 **(A/N: And thus this chapter is concluded! Sorry that there's no poem; I can't write poetry. Also, "Ari" is from Ariana Grande, one of my favorite singers and actors, regardless of the doughnut/America thing. She apologized for it in a tweet and video, so get over it! Anyway, you know the disclaimer.)**


	18. Ch 17: Baby Shower

**(A/N: This and a few other chapters after will be based on the first movie! Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 17

* * *

In a jungle, a certain group of toddlers had scaled a cliff, and entered a dark temple with Reptar statues at the entrance. They were all in ranger outfits, except for one of the two little girls. She was in a white short flutter sleeve dress with a knee-length skirt, a white bow headband, and white Mary Janes. They ran inside, but a certain one stopped. "This place gives me the juice bumps!" Chuckie Finster hunched down in fear.

When bats flew out of the Reptar statues' mouths, Shenzi Tuck and twins Phil and Lil DeVille became nervous as well. "We should go back!" Shenzi suggested.

"Very back!" Lil agreed.

"No!" Tommy Pickles protested. "We can't go back, you guys! Okey-Dokey Jones _never_ goes back!" He cracked his whip, or jump rope at "never", then stopped at a giant mouth doorway that resembled his cousin, Angelica Pickles, and opened and closed in a pattern, with an orange light streaming in. "Hang onto your diapies, babies! We're goin' in!" He ran to the trap entrance, and jumped through at the perfect time.

"That's Tommy Pickles," Chuckie narrated the scene, "He's the bravest baby I ever knowed!" Phil and Lil looked at each other in surprise, then held hands to go next. "And that's Phil and Lil. Uh, uh, well, they-they like worms." They ran to the trap, and jumped through safely. He and Shenzi backed away from the trap door. "And I'm Chuckie," He introduced himself, "Uh, I'm not so brave." Tommy wrapped his rope around him, and yanked him to safety. "But that's okay, 'cause I got Tommy, and he's my bestest friend." Shenzi stayed put with fear, unable to determine when to jump in. "That girl there is Shenzi. She's not brave either, but is braver than me." Tommy managed to whip her in too.

The toddlers ran to a tower with an idol perched on the top. They formed a tower of their own to reach it, with Tommy at the top, but it was just a little too high. The temple started rumbling at the release of a trap, so they toppled over, as the idol turned into a banana split. "Watch out!" Chuckie yelled. A giant boulder came rolling towards them, so they ran for their lives!

"Keep moving, it's right behind us!" Tommy ordered them all in fear of them getting crushed.

The ground suddenly opened in front of them, so Tommy, Phil, Lil, and Chuckie jumped over the huge crack, Chuckie just barely making it, but Shenzi didn't jump far enough, and was left hanging onto the brink. She gasped as her grip was slipping fast! "Chuckie!" She cried out. "Help me!" She whimpered as she tried to keep her footing.

He ran back over to the crack, grabbed her hand, and pulled her up. "Come on, Shenzi!" He ran with her back to the others.

Although as it turns out, the "boulder" was a heavily pregnant Didi Pickles, and the toddlers were trying to retrieve a banana split from the refrigerator. "Tommy!" The kids screamed and ran away, the ice cream splattering on the floor. "You kids shouldn't be playing in here!" "We thought the fun times would last forever," Chuckie narrated, before the toddlers ran into the patio door and fell face-up, "But we was wrong!"

"Oh my," Didi bent over to pick up Tommy, but had trouble straightening up, so Betty helped her.

"Upy-daisy, Deed."

"Thanks."

"Thank you for inviting me to your baby shower, Mrs. Pickles," Susie Carmichael greeted Didi after she came outside.

"Glad you could be here, Susie."

"What a pretty party dress, Angelica," A woman came up to the little blonde.

"Thank you! My mommy's assistant bought it especially for my aunt Didi's party." Angelica Pickles had a blue and white sailor dress with a large bow on the front, blue two-tone bow shoes, a matching hat, and large blue bows on her pigtails. She turned and glared at Susie when she giggled at her. "Don't say a word."

Meanwhile, Stu and Drew Pickles' aunt Miriam was taking bets on what Didi's new baby's weight would be with a blackboard. "All right, I got $20 on 8 pounds, 6 ounces. 8 pounds 6. Who's got 8-7?"

"12!" A man placed his bet.

"12 pounds?! What're you, crazy?!"

"Gosh, you can hardly tell she's gained any weight," Chaz Finster remarked about Didi, until she accidentally knocked over a small table. "I mean, you know, from behind."

Minka and Boris Kropotkin came up to their expecting daughter with a surprise for her. "There you are, Didala. Come, look what we got for you. Boris, move your tuchus!"

"A goat?" Didi was surprised when Boris came with a small, but full-grown goat. "Oh Mom, you shouldn't have."

"Nothing better for the little bubula than goat's milk."

"Except maybe yak," Boris remarked, "But you try finding good yak these days." The toddlers ran up and bumped into the goat, making him bleat in surprise. "He's saying "hello"." He held out some chocolate coins for them to take. "There you go, kinderlach, some chocolate coins." The toddlers each took one, and went to hide under a table, but Chuckie accidentally bumped into a couple of ladies.

"Aren't you going to eat it, Tommy?" Shenzi asked him. For the party, she was in a black short-sleeved dress with a white and black polka dot skirt and a matching bow sash, a white bow headband, her regular socks and sneakers, and a black velour hoodie with white polka dots.

"Nope," He replied as Chuckie managed to join them, "I'm saving it for my baby sister."

"Oh, you mean she finally came?" Chuckie asked him eagerly.

"Not yet, but they're giving her this big party, so I'm pretty sure today's the day."

"Do you think she got losted on her way to the party?" Lil wondered aloud.

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe we better go look for her. Come on!" Tommy led the group out from under the table to search.

"Uh, but, Tommy, she could be anywheres," Shenzi pointed out, before she accidentally bumped into Didi's stomach. "Ohmph!"

"Watch it, pups," Betty said.

"Careful," Didi gently added.

Charlotte arrived to the party, on her phone like she usually was. "I'll get back to you, Jonathan. I've got to say hi to the life of the party." She turned to Didi, and rubbed her stomach. "How's our little man?"

"I told you, Charlotte, Dr. Lipschitz says it's a girl."

"Ha!" Betty laughed. "That windbag thought Phil and Lil were intestinal gas."

"Face it, dolly. Riding high, it's a guy," Miriam added.

"Well, you know what they say: Born under Venus, look for a..." Charlotte was cut off by her phone ringing, so she answered it immediately. "Hello?"

"Now, now, Dr. Lipschitz is the expert," Didi defended her go-to doctor for child care, "I don't see any of you with a PHD in Latin."

"Yeah, pig Latin, maybe," Betty scoffed, "Well, let's just hope for Tommy's sake it's a girl. I'd hate to think how much my pups would be squabbling if they were both boys."

"Uh, uh, uh. Let's not do any gender stereotyping. After all, Stu and Drew are brothers, and they get along just fine."

In the basement, however, Stu and Drew were practically butting heads. "Pushy!" Stu yelled.

"Lazy!" Drew retorted.

"Bossy!"

"Inconsiderate!"

"Nosy!"

"Good for nothing!"

"Busy body!" "Why can't you listen to _me?!_ " They both yelled.

"We're talking about a real job, Stu, with benefits!" Drew tried to reason with Stu.

"I'm not going to waste my life as a clock-punching, paper-pushing, _bean-counting...!_ " He stopped himself. "Oh, no offense." He continued welding.

"You barely make ends meet now. You've got no insurance, no savings, _and another kid on the way!_ "

"For your information, _bro,_ I am working on something right now that is going to put this branch of the Pickles family on Easy Street." Stu lowered his welding mask, but Drew pushed it back up.

"What is it this time, huh, an electric _sponge?_ " He mocked him.

"Of course not! That was last year," He admitted, then unveiled a skeleton of his newest invention, "This, this is the Reptar Wagon! The ultimate in toddler transportation. The perfect children's toy!"

Lou Pickles was fixing a radio on a table close by. "In my day, we had plenty of fun just throwin' rocks at each other. Big bag of dirt clods, that's what the kids want."

Stu held up a newspaper article for Drew to see. "The Reptar Corporation is holding a toy design contest, and the winner gets $500!"

"Ooh!" He showed sarcastic excitement.

"And there'll be plenty more if this toy's a hit, and I'll be famous!"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what you said when you built _that_ stupid thing," Drew pointed to a Dactar glider suspended from the ceiling.

"Maybe Dactar was a little, complex, but this... this...watch!" He then spoke into a microphone for the audio. "I am Reptar! Hear me roar!"

"I am Reptar! Here me roar!" The wagon repeated his words in a much deeper voice, then spit out fire! Drew and Lou ducked for cover as embers rained down.

"Con-flabbit! Can't a man work in his own basement without gettin' barbecued?!" Lou brushed some embers off his shirt sleeve as Stu extinguished the fire.

"Okay, so maybe real fire isn't the best idea for a children's toy," Stu admitted, and when he saw Drew's shirt smoldering, he extinguished him, to his chagrin.

Up in the house, the toddlers went up to Tommy's room, and stared in awe when half of the room was suddenly pink. "Tommy, somebody's been coloring your room," Chuckie remarked.

"Yep, it's for my new sister."

"How are we gonna find her, Tommy?" Phil asked him.

"Yeah, we don't even know what she looks like," Chuckie added.

"Well, she's a girl like me, so we know she'll be prettyful," Lil guessed, then had her index fingers on her cheeks.

"Maybe she gots lots of hair like me," Shenzi chimed in, with her hands gripping her long, dark hair.

"Oh, brother!" Angelica came into the room, carrying a bunch of cookies with her skirt. "You dumb babies got a lot to learn about the facts of lice. Now get outta my way!" She shoved past them. "I gotta get back to the dessert table before the grownups get all the good stuff." She dumped the cookies on Tommy's bed.

"Angelica, can you help us find my baby sister?" Tommy asked her. "

I wouldn't be in such a big hurry if I was you, Tommy." Spike walked in the room. "'Cause when the new baby gets here, she's gonna gets all the toys, and the love, and the attentions. And your mommy and daddy'll forget all about you. It'll be like, "Look, Deed; There's that little bald kid in the house again.""

"My mommy and daddy won't forget me," He protested.

"That's what Spike said before you were born. Back when his name was Paul."

"Paul?"

"Yeah, but, then you came along and they put him out in the rain and he turned into a dog."

"That's not gonna happen to me, Angelica! My mommy and daddy will love me no matter what!"

" _A baby is very neat, a baby is a special treat,_ " They heard Susie singing outside, with Boris playing the accordion.

"Ugh! Who does Susie Carmichael think she is?!" Angelica headed outside with anger, as the toddlers gathered at the window to watch.

" _A baby has lots of toes, a baby has a tiny nose._ " When Angelica came out, the adults were clapping to the music, as Didi rubbed her stomach. " _A baby is a little dickens, a baby is a cuddly chicken._ " Angelica snickered evilly, then went in to have a little fun. " _A baby is lots of joy._ "

" _A baby will get all the toys!_ " Angelica joined in, surprising Boris into stopping his accordion.

"What are you doing?" Susie asked her, then continued her song. " _A baby has a smiley face._ " Boris continued playing.

" _A baby is from outside space!_ " Angelica jumped up, making her hat bounce off her head.

"Angelica!"

"Susie!"

" _A baby is extra fancy._ "

" _A baby poops in his pantsies!_ "

"Cut it out!"

"No!"

" _Like a birdie, singing in a tree._ " The toddlers crawled under a round table to watch.

" _More like Reptar screaming in your ear!_ " Angelica pointed to the surprised tots.

" _A baby is a gift, a gift from a Bob!"_ They both sang to outdo one another. " _A baby is a gift from a Bob, Bob, Bob! A baby is a gift._ " Angelica stopped, and secretly made a gagging gesture.

" _A gift from a Bob!_ " Susie sang alone.

"Tommy, um, do you really think babies are a gift from a Bob?" Chuckie asked him.

"I don't know. Why?"

"Because if Bob bringed a gift, it's probably one of them," He pointed to the present table.

" _A baby is very special!_ "

" _A baby is, is NO-O-O-O-T!_ " Angelica screamed.

Just then, Didi began going into labor. "Oh! Betty, it's time!"

"It's time? Oh boy! Everybody to your stations, people!" Betty turned to the guests. "Howard, get Stu! Charlotte, call the hospital!" She then came to Didi's aid, along with Minka, as she started breathing heavily. "Deed, start your breathing. Come on, good girl."

The toddlers were looking through the opened presents, before their respective parents picked them up and headed for the house. "Up we go, sprout," Lou grabbed Tommy, "We've got a Pickle to deliver."

"We're going to the car, kids," Howard led Phil and Lil away from the mess.

Then, the frantic goat accidentally activated the sprinkler. "Will somebody turn that sprinkler off?!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Now that's what I call a baby shower," Lou said to Tommy.

* * *

 **(A/N: Well, there's the start of the movie events! You know the disclaimer. Shenzi's white fantasy dress is based off of Marion Ravenwood's from Indiana Jones. Also technically, today, August 27th, is Shenzi's birthday! I don't plan on acknowledging her birthday until later on.)**


	19. Ch 18: Dil Pickles

**(A/N: Here is Dil's debut in the story, and the world it's set in! Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 18

* * *

The group arrived at the "Lipschitz Maternity Arts Building", while Didi was still breathing heavily. "Welcome to the Werner P. Lipschitz Center for Holistic Birthing, offering the modern parent the state of the art in primitive birth alternatives," The doctor himself greeted any newcomers from a bank of monitors.

"Oh, Mrs. Pickles!" A nurse came to their aid from the counter. "You weren't due till next week, now, dear. Well, I guess we could try and squeeze you in somewhere, huh?"

"But Dr. Lipschitz promised us the all-natural Zen experience in the tibetin terrace room!" Didi brought up in a strained tone.

"In my day, a woman just dropped her baby in the potato field, and kept going," Boris remarked.

"Ah, yes, the old country room," The nurse opened the door to a room with maternity equipment in the middle of a potato field with a cow and a farmer.

"Do you have anything a little cleaner?" Didi requested.

"We could try the aquatic immersion room." The nurse led them to another delivery room, where an expecting mother was in a tank with a doctor, both wearing scuba gear.

"She's having a baby, not a gifelte fish!" Minka protested.

Just then, two doctors came from the elevator, one of them being Lucy Carmichael, Susie's mother. "Oh! Stu, Didi, Randy called to say you were on your way. I didn't realize you were bringin' the whole party! How far apart are the pains, hon?" She asked Didi, who was squeezing Stu's hand from the pain of labor.

"Oh, they're... pretty much constant," Stu replied. She finally let go of his hand, so he curled his fingers to stop the numbing feeling.

"Okay, Didi, let's go and get you settled in, huh?"

The toddlers were put in a playpen located in the waiting room. "Don't worry, sweetie," Didi caressed Tommy's cheeks, "Mommy's going to be okay." She was then wheeled to a regular delivery room, with Lou and Boris staying in the waiting room.

"Gee Tommy, your mommy sure sounds upset," Shenzi remarked with worry.

"Maybe your baby sister really is losted," Lil added.

"Well, maybe we can buy her a new one," Tommy took his chocolate coin out of his diaper.

"Where're we gonna find a baby in a place like this?" Chuckie wondered aloud, unaware of several doctors walking in and out of the room, carrying newborn babies. The toddlers broke down the playpen puzzle walls, then crawled away from the two grandfathers, who were playing Go Fish. They kept going until they found a room with a sign reading "Newborn Nursery", and pushed through the lightweight double doors.

"Hey, a baby store," Phil remarked.

"Nice and wiggly," Lil added.

"You guys, help me pick one my mom will like," Tommy requested, then they started looking around at the bed carts.

When Chuckie backed away from an advancing security camera, he accidentally stepped on the light switch. All of a sudden, the babies burst into song!

" _ **Where am I?**_ "

" _ **How did I get here?**_ "

" _ **Today is very different than yesterday.**_ "

" _ **So this is the world?**_ "

" _ **I miss my old womb.**_ "

" _ **The wallpaper here just ain't the same.**_ "

" _ **This word is something strange.**_ "

" _ **I'm wet.**_ "

" _ **I'm cold!**_ "

" _ **I need a change!**_ "

" _ **This world is something new to me.**_ " They all threw their blankets in the air.

" _ **Oh, my head! What is this? I can't take it!**_ "

" _ **Me either!**_ "

" _ **I'm hungry.**_ "

" _ **I'm tired.**_ "

" _ **I'm irritated!**_ " The newborn pounded the crib floor to make his pacifier bounce.

" _ **But I love the extra leg room.**_ "

" _ **Man! They cut my cord!**_ " She pointed to her belly button.

One boy looked in his diaper. " _ **Consider yourself lucky!**_ "

" _ **This world is way too big!**_ "

" _ **And populated by fuzzy pigs.**_ " He pointed at Chuckie, who had his nose pressed on the glass.

" _ **This world is something new to me.**_ "

" _ **This world is such a gas.**_ " He passed gas, so his diaper puffed up, as Phil pushed his bed cart.

" _ **P.U., where's your class?**_ " Two girls griped, then Phil and Lil pushed their carts.

" _ **This world is something new to me.**_ " Chuckie and Lil's carts bumped into each other, making their occupants cry.

" _ **Quiet! can't a guy get some shuteye?**_ "

" _ **It's so noisy in here.**_ " Phil pushed her cart along.

" _ **I can barely hear myself suck.**_ " One boy snatched a bottle offered to him from Chuckie's hand, and drank grudgingly.

" _ **The food here tastes pretty good.**_ " Another boy passed by Tommy.

" _ **My compliments to the chef.**_ "

" _ **And you gotta holler to get fed.**_ "

" _ **But I could get used to that.**_ "

When the babies started crying, Shenzi accidentally stumbled onto another light switch, making the room brighter. " _ **This world is way too bright.**_ "

" _ **Can't somebody turn down the light?**_ "

One baby looked inside his diaper. " _ **So**_ **that's** _ **what that thing looks like.**_ "

" _ **All things here are meant for play.**_ "

" _ **It's gonna be a real cool day.**_ "

" _ **This world is something new to me.**_ " To the todders' surprise, the newborns started urinating in the air, forming a rainbow at the main light. " _ **This world is something new to me.**_ "

After the singing stopped, Lou came in with Boris. " _There_ you are!"

"Oy, gevalt! You kinder gave my ticker such a scare." They left the room with the kids, Lou carrying Tommy and the twins, and Boris the two-year-olds, just as the rainbow faded.

In the delivery room, Didi was making progress in the childbirth. "All right, Didi, you can do it. Push now!" Lucy urged her, then turned to the staff. "Have we got a good reading on the EFM?" Didi let out a scream of pain, as she made the final, agonizing push. "Here it comes!" The baby then came right out!

"Gorgeous!" Didi grinned with joy.

"Deed, she's so beautiful," Stu smiled, before he realized something, "She's... she's a boy!"

"Hello, my wonderful, sweet baby boy." She took him in her arms, and he stopped crying.

"Well, I guess we won't be naming him after my mother," Stu remarked.

"He doesn't look much like a Trixie," Didi agreed, "What about my cousin Dylan?" She suggested.

"Dylan Prescott Pickles," Stu recited the name out loud.

"Dil Pickles," The nurse wrote the name on his birth certificate.

"Yeah, I like it!" Stu decided.

The others arrived at her hospital room after she was settled in, with Lou carrying Tommy. "Here you go, sprout." Tommy gave Lucy his chocolate coin, before he was brought to his mommy's bed.

"Tommy, I want you to meet someone very special," Didi turned to her now oldest son, as Stu set him on the bed, "This is your brother, Dylan. Dil, this is Tommy." Dil Pickles stared at Tommy, as he sucked on a pacifier.

"Baby," Tommy mumbled in awe, and reached towards him.

"See? They already love each other," Didi glanced at Stu and Lou. Dil hiccuped, then reached over and tweaked Tommy's nose. Tommy then burst out crying, with Dil following his lead.

Just then, the others peered in, now curious. "Well, that's a start," Betty remarked.

4 weeks later, at the Pickles residence, Dil was _still_ crying for attention, as Stu tried to comfort him. Dil was now in a purple footed sleeper with long sleeves. Stu walked into the kitchen, where Didi had fallen asleep while washing dishes in the sink. "Deed, what are we gonna do?" He startled her awake. "He hasn't stopped crying since we brought him home!"

In the playpen, Phil and Shenzi were plugging their ears, as Lil had a toy monkey in her hands, and Chuckie was laying on the ball. "Somehow it's not as much fun around here anymore!" Phil remarked over the crying.

"Yeah! What's your brother so sad about?" Shenzi asked Tommy.

"I don't know! But whatever it is, it must be really bad!"

"Maybe he's broked!" Lil suggested, as she screwed the monkey's head.

"What?" Tommy didn't hear her.

"BROKED!" Both twins yelled, so he could hear, just before the monkey's head popped off.

"Broked?" Tommy saw Stu and Didi walk by with a wailing Dil. "He's not broked, he's a... just a little loud!"

"Ooh, that baby's getting on my nerves!" Angelica glared from the TV room, where Lou was sleeping in his chair, then slammed the door shut and went back to the TV. She changed the channel, turned the volume up, and saw an advertisement for a circus show.

"Direct from Moscow, the Banana Brothers Monkey Circus! Featuring the most amazing monkeys since Brezhnev! This is real monkey business, so Trotsky on down. The Banana Brothers Monkey Circus!"

"GRANDPA!" She shouted over the TV and Dil's crying, waking Lou. "CAN WE GO TO THE CIRCUS?!"

He was startled by the goat from Boris and Minka headbutting the back of his chair. "It's enough of a circus around here already!" He pointed out to her, after rubbing his now aching, lower back.

Elsewhere, a train for the same circus stopped at a station in the middle of a forest, and the two men from the circus ad disembarked. "Serge, you stay here and watch monkeys, I get us coffee," The blond, thin man, Igor, told his rounder, brunette friend with a Russian accent.

"No, Igor, _you_ stay and watch monkeys and _I_ get us coffee," Serge shook his head.

"Nyet! Monkeys watch _you,_ I GET COFFEE!"

In the station diner, both guys were enjoying their coffee, Igor using a cup and Serge a dish, along with doughnuts. "I think coffee's better in St. Petersburg," Serge remarked.

"Nyet, is better in Kiev," Igor protested.

"No, it's better in St. Petersburg!" Serge argued.

" _Nothing_ is better in St. Petersburg!"

Serge did a spit take when he saw that the train was suddenly moving by itself. "Look! The train!"

"Let me out! Stop!" They rushed out, only to find the train too far away and going too fast for them to catch it. Igor ranted in Russian, and threw his hat on the ground, then stomped on it in frustration.

As it turns out, the circus monkeys had taken control of the train, somehow figuring out the way to make it start running. After it was speeded up, the train passed a "Danger, Slow Curve" signal, but it derailed, and crashed in the forest. Luckily, the monkeys were unharmed, although bewildered.

At the Pickles house at night, Didi was reading a story to Tommy in his bed. ""And then the wizard looked down at the little boy and said: "your wish has been granted". And the little boy looked...""

She was cut off by Stu entering with a _still_ crying Dil. "Deed! Help!"

Didi set the book on the bed, so her place would be kept. "I'll be back, sweetie." She then went to assist Stu, and Tommy held the book out in sadness.

"All I did was cough, Deed! I tried not to, but I had a feeling in my throat! And then I coughed!" Tommy was now on the floor as he walked backwards and dragged the book in front of him, yearning for attention, until he fell on his back, and the book fell over him. "And now he's crying! And now he's got the hiccups!" Stu started crying himself, more so than Dil, in desperation and frustration.

"Oh, Stu," Didi stuck a pacifier in her husband's mouth, then cranked the mobile on Dil's crib, "Stu, why don't you sing Dil a lullaby?"

"I'm too tired to sing," He spat out the pacifier.

"Alright, I'll make something up," She offered, taking Dil in her arms.

"Good." They walked past Tommy, who held the book up.

" _ **Baby, please rest your head,**_ " Didi started singing quietly.

" _ **Yeah, now it's time for bed,**_ " Stu added tiredly.

"That's good," She complimented him.

"Thanks."

" _ **You're cuter than...**_ "

" _ **Uncle Ned.**_ " They laughed quietly at his rhyme choice.

" _ **Our little...**_ "

" _ **Quadroped?**_ " He tried.

"Oh, Stu." Dil was on the verge of crying again. "It didn't work; He's still awake."

"I got one, I got one," Stu gestured for her to give him Dil, so she complied. " _ **Twinkle, twinkle, how time flies.**_ " Dil hiccuped.

" _ **Slowly in the starry skies,**_ " Didi added.

" _ **Baby, please, close your eyes!**_ " Stu practically got in his face in desperation, making him nervous.

"Shh, shh, shh," Didi calmed him, " _ **You're as sweet as...**_ "

" _ **Apple pies.**_ " Tommy held up one of Stu's slippers, but was still unnoticed.

" _ **As you grow, and love, and play...**_ " Didi laid Dil in his crib, and pulled the blanket up to his shoulders.

" _ **In our hearts, you'll always stay.**_ " Tommy gave up, and walked into the closet with the slipper and the book, as Stu kissed Dil's cheek.

" _ **So sleep and dream the night away.**_ " Didi kissed Dil's other cheek as he finally fell asleep.

"That was good," Stu complimented her. They then walked out of the room, as Tommy stayed in the closet.

" _ **Baby, please rest your head,**_ " He sang quietly, his voice cracking, " _ **Now it is time for bed. Please stop; Don't you see? I want Mom and Dad for me.**_ " Tommy shed some tears and snuggled with the slipper, with the book on his lap, as Dil let out a hiccup in his sleep. Spike wasn't exactly happy either, being stuck outside in the rain.

* * *

 **(A/N: And so Dil has entered the world! You know the disclaimer.)**


	20. Ch 19: Brother Trouble

**(A/N: It seems that chapters for events in the movie are coming to me fast. XD Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 19

* * *

The next morning, the group of toddlers were playing a crate filled with packing peanuts, when Dil started crying again. Chuckie and Shenzi covered their ears in annoyance, until Lou spotted them in the crate, as Lil peeked out of the peanuts. "Hey, sprouts, crate's no place for you to play!" He carefully tipped the crate over, so they rolled out. "You wouldn't want to get shipped to Japan with Reptar, now would you? I better put this where I can keep an eye on it." He lugged the crate into the hallway.

The kids then saw Dil nibbling on Tommy's blanket, while in a baby seat. "Dil, that's Tommy's blankie," Chuckie walked up to him.

"Yeah, it used to sleep with me before we even got you!" Tommy added, but was hit on his head by Dil's rattle.

"My blankie!"

"He's not very nice," Chuckie helped him stand up, but he was then hit as well, "Ow!" He rubbed his head.

"Hey! You don't hit babies with toys!" Shenzi tried to scold him, but Dil giggled and hit her forehead with his rattle, right on her hair fringe. "Ow!"

"That's not how you get things from a brother, Tommy," Lil walked up to them.

"It's not?"

"No, it's not. Here, watch." Lil shoved the 3 toddlers aside, Shenzi landing on her back, then grabbed Phil's Reptar doll.

"Hey, that's my Reptar, Lillian!" He glared.

"Is not, Philip!" She argued.

"Is too, Lillian!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!" Lil managed to toss Phil to the ground, although he was not hurt, ending the argument. "See, Tommy, now you try it."

As Dil started chewing on a teddy bear, Tommy walked up to him with a wide, innocent smile, then started tugging on the bear. "Tebby mine!" Dil protested.

"Mine!" Tommy argued.

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!" Dil hit Tommy with his rattle again, but Tommy lunged on the floor face-up, and the fight continued.

"Gosh, Tommy learns fast," Phil remarked.

"Yeah," Lil agreed.

Meanwhile, Stu and Lou were lugging the completed Reptar wagon up the stairs. "Hurry, Pop! They'll be here to pick it up any minute!" They set it down by the crate, feeling out of breath.

"Daddy, why can't I watch Shirley-Lock Holmes at our house?" Angelica whined to Drew, as they walked to Stu and Didi's house. "I'll never be able to hear it with that new baby squawking the whole time!" She crossed her arms in anger.

"Now, sweetheart, daddy's got to put in a little overtime today, so that mommy won't be so ashamed of his quarterly earnings." Drew rang the doorbell, and Stu came to let them in.

"Hi, Uncle Stu. Sorry to hear your pony is so slow," She walked in the house.

"Uh, we don't have a pony, Angelica," Stu pointed out in confusion.

She turned to Drew with confusion of her own. "Then how come you told Mommy, Aunt Didi got saddled with a loser?"

"Loser?" Stu glared at him. Drew tried to think of what to say, but Dil's crying interrupted him. "Excuse me, bro. My tax deductions are _CRYING!_ " He slammed the door shut, but Drew opened it again, setting Angelica's toy bag and roller skates on the floor.

"YOU CAN'T DEDUCT THEM IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY INCOME!" He yelled back, then slammed the door back shut.

Meanwhile, Tommy and Dil were still fighting over the teddy bear, with Phil and Lil watching, as Chuckie started feeling bored. He slumped at the side of the couch, as Shenzi laid on the floor in front of his feet, feeling bored as well. Stu peered into the room, and was alarmed at the scene in front of the couch. "Tommy! Dil! Boys, what are you doing?"

"Ohh!" Chuckie and Shenzi groaned.

Stu came up to end the tug of war. "Dil, let's say we give Tommy a little turn with the bear, huh?" He took the bear out of their hands, but Dil started crying angrily. "Or not," He quickly gave it back to him, only for Tommy to start crying himself. "Hey, champ, why don't you come with me for a minute?" He picked him up, and headed for his workshop. "I got something to show you that's even better than your old teddy bear." Dil fell asleep with the bear in his arms, as Phil, Lil, Chuckie, and Shenzi exited the room.

Stu set Tommy on his workbench, then took out a pocket watch. "We weren't going to give you this until you were a little bit older, but, I think now's the right time. Shiny, huh? And Grandpa Lou put your picture inside." He opened it to show him. "I know it's hard, Tommy. You have a little brother now, and that's a big change." Tommy looked at the picture, then closed the watch, looking angry, and put it down. "Uh, Dil can be pretty tough to get along with, huh? But sometimes little brothers, they... aren't everything you'd hoped they'd be." Stu opened a drawer, and took out a picture of himself and Drew, from when they were kids. "That's why big brothers have got to have faith." He held the picture up. "And one day, you'll see... he'll change." He put a chain on the watch. "After all, you've got responsibility now. I know I can trust that you'll stick by Dil's side, and be a swell big brother." Stu held Tommy in his lap, as the one-year-old pondered at his words.

He looked down at the watch in his hands. ' _Sponsatility,_ ' He thought to himself.

In the hallway, the toddlers saw the new, huge toy before them as the goat ate a sleeping Lou's newspaper. "Wow!" Phil and Lil stared in awe.

"What is that, you guys?" Chuckie asked them.

"Reptar!" Lil replied.

"On wheels!" Phil added.

"It looks like my daddy's car, only baby sized and it's Reptar!" Shenzi remarked.

"What do you think it's for?" Chuckie wondered aloud, as Lil climbed in.

"I don't know," Phil replied.

"I bet it could take us to the baby store," Lil suggested, as she gripped the steering wheel.

"Great idea, Lillian! We could take Dil to the hopsicle and get Tommy's money back!" Lil tumbled out of the wagon.

"Yeah, it's money back bearanteed!" They ran back in the living room to retrieve Dil, as Chuckie and Shenzi lingered.

"Guys! Guys, Tommy's not gonna be happy about this," Chuckie felt nervous.

"Well, he's sure not happy now," Lil pointed out as she and Phil lugged Dil to the wagon.

"Well..."

"You watch. Once Dil goes back to the baby store, Tommy will be happy here," She predicted after Dil was in the back seat of the wagon.

"I don't know about this," Shenzi was reluctant.

Tommy walked in the room with the watch, and was shocked at what was happening. "What're you doing?" He glared.

"We, uh, actually, Lillian was, uh..." Phil hesitated.

"We're taking Dil back to the hopsicle, Tommy," Lil climbed back in the driver's seat, "We're gonna get your moneys back."

"What?! You can't do that!" Tommy protested. "My mommy and daddy wanna keep him!"

"See? See?" Chuckie pointed out.

"Why? All he does is cry and poop," Phil pointed out.

"Well, so do you," Tommy retorted, as Lil played with the steering wheel.

"I don't cry _that_ much."

"Well, you poop an awful lot."

"Look who's talking, Mr. Chocolate Pants!"

"I am not a poopie monster!"

In the TV room, Angelica was disturbed by their argument, and went out during a commercial break. "What're you happy, Tommy?"

"Well, I'm not!" He admitted.

"Hey, babies, knock it off!" Angelica ordered them. "Cynthia and me are trying to watch TV!" Her doll caught Dil's interest, so he swiped it out of her hand when she turned around. "Huh?" She turned to confront him. "Hey, hands off the merchandise, pinky!" She tried to tug her out of his hands, but ended up falling in the crate.

"Pretty good," Phil and Lil remarked to each other.

Angelica growled and stomped to the wagon, but Tommy blocked her way. "Be nice, Angelica. He didn't mean it."

She grabbed him by his shirt collar, then got in his face. "You wanna ride in a wagon? I'll give you a ride," She tossed him in the wagon, "To outside space!" She kicked the back of the hard wagon, hurting her foot. "Ow!" She hopped on one foot until she heard the commercial break end. "My show!" She ran to the TV room doorway. "Ooh, next commercial, you babies are in big trouble!" She slammed the door shut.

"All aboard!" Lil exclaimed as the wagon rolled out the door, which Drew unintentionally opened from the slam he produced.

"Wait up!" Shenzi ran after them hastily, after some hesitation, as Chuckie watched.

"Just walk away, Chuckie," He told himself, "Walk away!" He resisted the urge to follow them, with deep breaths and his hands on his head, until he gave up and ran after them. "Ooh, wait for me!" He jumped on the back of the wagon, and Shenzi pulled him in. Just then, the wagon rolled out on the street.

"Which way to the hopsickle?" Phil wondered aloud.

"We're not going to the hopsickle!" Tommy protested.

"Well we're sure going _somewheres!_ " Shenzi pointed out.

Meanwhile, a delivery man came to the Pickles house, as Lou was still asleep. "Uh, pardon me. Pickup for Pickles to Japan?"

"Take it away, take it away!" Lou said in his sleep.

The delivery man closed the crate, unaware of what was inside of it, and loaded it on the dolly, and left a receipt on Lou's stomach. "Yeah, have a good day." He left the house with the crate and loaded it in his truck, then drove off as Spike barked at him.

In the TV room, Angelica was disturbed as she watched her show. "Pipe down, Spike! Me and Cynthia are watching..." She stopped upon noticing that her doll was not next to her. "Cynthia?" She walked out in the living room. "Nice try, babies! Now gimme back my...!" She gasped in shock when she saw Cynthia's shoe abandoned on the door mat, then picked it up. "CYNTHIA-A-A-A!" She screamed in horror.

On the street, the toddlers narrowly avoided a collision with a car, which ended up crashing, as the twins drove. They ran along a walkway until they finally flew off, causing a pickup truck to crash.

At the house, Angelica came out in her roller skates and Shirley-Lock Holmes outfit, complete with a handlebar mustache, and retrieved Spike. "They took Cynthia, Spike! Come on! You're gonna be my butt hound! We gotta search every doghouse, playhouse, tree house, and doll house! I want those foogitives back in custardy!" After he was free from the stake by his house, Spike started running down the street with Angelica in tow. "Whoa! Bad dog! Bad dog! STOP!"

Stu walked up the basement stairs, talking to Didi on the cordless phone. "Deed, just go to the spa and relax. Pop and I are doing fine taking care of the, uh..." He saw that the crate was gone. "Pop, where's the crate?"

"Huh?" Lou woke up, and noticed the receipt. "Oh, I guess the delivery folks must've come."

"Wow. They loaded her up and everything, huh?" Stu was impressed, although not for long.

"Stu, let me talk to Tommy," Didi requested.

"Sure, I'll let you talk to Tommy. Pop... uh... uh, where are the kids?"

"That's funny," Lou stood up, "They were here a minute ago, playing in the..." He stopped in shock.

"... THE CRATE!" They both yelled in horror. The kids were gone!

Stu went back to his call, now nervous. "Uh, Honey... I'm gonna have to... call you back." He hung up, then glared at Lou.

On the streets, the toddlers were still riding in the wagon with the twins driving, narrowly dodging vehicles, and a garbage man, but hitting trash cans. Chuckie and Dil were swaying back and forth, with Shenzi gripping one side while sitting on the floor, so Dil barfed on Chuckie's shirt, to his dismay. They then crashed through a glass silverware truck, and drove through a playground, hitting a swing, driving on a low set of monkey bars like a ride track, then down a slide and landed on a teeter-totter, so a boy flew up. They then drove to an unfinished overpass, but when Lil pressed buttons in a panic, a robotic hand came out and swung on a pole, turning them to safety as Dil's pacifier fell out. Tommy lunged forward to swerve out of an oncoming truck's path, but they end up driving through a mattress factory, finally stopping in one of the trucks. One of the employees closed the loading door without seeing them, and the truck drove off.

Meanwhile, Stu started a search for the toddlers in his car. "How could you fall asleep when you were supposed to be watching the kids?!" He chastised Lou, who was sleeping in the passenger seat. Soon, he stopped behind a certain mattress factory truck. "We'll never find the babies with this _jerk_ in front of us!" He turned to Lou, not seeing the loading door open to reveal the kids bouncing on the mattresses, and when he looked back at the road, the door had closed. He tried to go around, but had to wait on another car, so he honked his car horn repeatedly in frustration. He finally managed to pass, but swerved to narrowly miss another truck, making the mattress crash through the guard rail and into the forest, with the driver leaping out before he could get hurt.

As the truck drove itself through the forest, the toddlers were having a great time. "This is more fun than picking noses!" Phil exclaimed.

"Or making bubbles in the bathtub!" Lil added.

"I don't know if I should throw up, or throw _down!_ " Chuckie kept somersaulting in the air with every bounce.

"I feel like a little bunny rabbit!" Shenzi bounced from mattress to mattress, having a good time.

The driver watched the truck drive away, then walked off.

In a United Express airplane, every crate on board was opened, not finding anything unusual except the goat. "I've turned this plane upside down, and I assure you there are _no_ children," The pilot reported.

"No," The co-pilot shrugged.

"We found a kid, but he's not the one you're looking for."

At the controllers' tower, Stu and Lou were listening to the pilots, and were surprised to hear the goat. They quickly drove back home, then searched the entire house. "Tommy!" Stu shoved clothes in the closet aside.

"Sprouts?!" Lou looked under the bed with a flashlight.

"Dil!" Stu opened the basement door.

"Angelica?" Lou peeked in the cookie jar.

"Where can they be?" Stu looked under the sink. "We gotta find them!"

Just then, Didi walked in with grocery bags. "Find what?" Stu banged his head on the sink in surprise, then stood up with a sheepish grin.

"Einstein here lost the kids!" Lou told her.

" _I_ lost the kids?!"

"See?"

Didi gasped in shock and dropped the bags on the floor, spilling all the contents.

* * *

 **(A/N: Well, the adventure has begun! You know the disclaimer.)**


	21. Ch 20: The Adventure Begins

**(A/N: Well, the adventure has officially begun! Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be**

Ch. 20

* * *

In the forest, the toddlers exited the wrecked truck, luckily not injured, but now in an unfamiliar environment. "Where are we?" Shenzi wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Tommy replied, "It kinda looks like the park."

"Only biggerer," Lil added.

"Biggerer? This place is bigger than the park, and the backyard all put together," Chuckie pointed out, "This is bad, you guys."

"Real bad!" Shenzi agreed.

"Uh oh, Tommy!" Lil noticed Dil squirming and grunting on the blanket. "I think your brother is broked again."

"Oh no!" Tommy came to check on him, along with the others. "Dil, are you okay?"

"I think he's gonna explode," Phil guessed.

"Poopy," Dil grunted.

"What?" Tommy leaned in closer.

"Poopy!" Dil grunted again, and the toddlers heard a disgusting noise.

"Ew!" They all leaned away, covering their noses.

"Well, I guess we'll have to change his diapie," Tommy concluded.

"What do you mean _we?_ " Phil glared.

At the Pickles house, police officers and a news crew arrived after the toddlers were reported missing. "I can't believe you left them with your father!" Didi chastised Stu. "The man slept through _Pearl Harbor,_ for heaven's sakes!"

"I sounded the alarm as soon as I could!" Lou defended himself.

"Uh, Mrs. Pickle, did your son have any enemies?" A police woman asked Didi.

"Oh...!" She gasped at the shocking question.

"Uh-huh. Any underworld or mob connections?"

"He's a _baby!_ "

In the forest, the toddlers were attempting to change a fussy Dil's diaper, coughing as Tommy tried to powder his backside. "The powder goes on his _butt,_ Tommy!" Shenzi exclaimed, as she held onto Dil's shoulders.

"Well, I'm doing the best I can!"

Just then, Dil yanked her headband off her head. "Hey! My bow!" He threw it in the air, and a sudden slight gust of wind blew it away. "Oh no!" She went to run after it, but Chuckie stopped her, as Lil took her place.

"We don't gots time for that! We've gotta stick together!"

Dil kicked Tommy to the ground, then released some urine in the air. "Pee-pee!" The kids hastily ducked for cover.

"Look out!" Phil yelled out.

"Stop it, Dil!" Chuckie ordered the baby.

"Get off me!" Lil had landed on Phil when ducking for cover.

Chuckie fell on his stomach on the ground, so a frog jumped on his head. "Aah! Frog! Frog!" He freaked out, with everyone else watching in concern, until he fell in a leaf pile, and the frog jumped away. Now angry, he walked up to the tree stump where Dil was laying. "Your brother made a frog jump on me!"

"Ribbit!" Dil played with him.

"Stop it!" Chuckie ordered him.

"Ribbit!"

"You stop it!"

"Stop it!" Dil parroted.

"Stop it!"

"Ribbit!"

"Hey, guys!" Tommy stopped the argument. "Maybe we should stop playing around, and figure out how to get home!" He put a fresh diaper on Dil.

"Right!" Shenzi agreed.

"But Tommy, we don't even know where we are," Lil pointed out.

"Uh, I know! I've got my sponsatility!" He took his pocket watch out of his diaper.

"What's a sponsatility, Tommy?" Shenzi asked him.

"Sounds yucky," Phil remarked.

"No, it's what you get for being a big brother," Tommy explained, "It's just like Okey-Dokey Jones uses when he has to find his way home." They put Dil back in the wagon.

"Isn't that a crumpass?" Shenzi wondered aloud, dragging the duffle bag to the wagon.

"Well, my dad gave it to me, and he called it a sponsatility."

"Where's it say to go?" Phil asked him.

"Well, um, uh, hmm," Tommy tried to figure it out, "This way. Uh... That's the way! Straight up that hill!"

In another part of the forest, Angelica was still dragged along by Spike. "Aah! Bad dog, bad dog! STOP!" At the scene of the mattress truck wreckage, Spike stopped upon seeing a pacifier and sniffed at it, but Angelica kept rolling, and just before he could pick it up in his mouth, he was pulled away after her. She hit some tree branches, with Spike close behind, before she landed square on a tree trunk, being knocked unconscious. After a while, she woke up to Spike holding her hat in his mouth, and setting it down. "You know, not _all_ dogs go to heaven," She sneered at him.

At the Pickles house, just as the parents ran outside, they were bombarded by nosy news reporters. "Mr. Pickles, is it true you shipped your own children to Tokyo in a wooden box?" The reporter from channel 3 asked Stu.

"Is it true a dingo ate your baby?" A woman from channel 11 asked Didi.

"Mr. Pickles, how many pecks of pickled peppers did you pick?"

Just then, Rex Pester, the snoopiest reporter out of all of them, came to the scene in a helicopter with his cameraman, scaring the other reporters away. "Childhood, a time of innocence, a time of joy. A time of unspeakable, unrelenting _tragedy,_ " He narrated, then turned to Didi, "Mrs. Pickles, tell us how it feels to know you may never see your children again."

"Criminy! Can't you pit bulls show some compassion?!" Betty chastised him.

"I'm so sorry. Forgive me." But he did not let up. " _Please_ tell us how it feels to know you may never see your children again."

"Augh! Get him!" Betty was held back by Stu and Lou when she tried to attack the rude reporter. "Let me at him! All right!"

Just then, Drew and Charlotte arrived at the scene. "Hold on, Jonathan. There's an alarming crowd at my in-law's indicating either a yard sale or a family tragedy. Let me get back to you."

Rex then came up to the newcomers of the scene. "Hey, Mr. Pickles, how does it feel knowing your brother lost your only daughter?"

"He WHAT?!" Drew screamed, and his face physically turned red in fury.

"Share your pain."

"YAAA!" He tackled Stu to the ground, and forced his arm up in an unnatural way.

"You're breaking my arm!"

"Only 'cause I can't reach your _neck!_ "

"And there you have it," Rex turned back to the camera, as Charlotte and Howard tried to break up the fight, "2 sour Pickles and: young Tammy, baby Dale, the twins Bill and Jill, little Chunky, innocent Shelly, and poor Amelia, all vanished without a trace. I'm Rex Pester, and I'll be back with more "Bi-i-ig Action Ne-e-ews"!"

Chaz came rushing from a neighbor's house, and back to the scene as Charlotte was helping Stu stand up. "Mr. Swenson said he saw Angelica and Spike run thought his garden and head north on I-99!"

"My baby!" She dropped him back to the ground, and ran after Chaz.

"Let's go!" Didi followed her lead.

Everyone started to leave, when Lou came out of the house in his military uniform. "Private First Class Pickles reporting for duty!"

"Just get in! Come on!" Friar Tuck rushed him, eager and desperate to find his daughter.

In the forest, the kids were moving the Reptar wagon up the hill, with Tommy pushing from the back, and Chuckie, Shenzi, and the twins pulling at the front. By now, Shenzi's dark hair was getting in her face, since it was not held back. "Good job, you guys!" Tommy praised them. "We're almost there! Good, Dil. Now, play nice." Dil hit his head with the bottle.

"Not much fun back there, is it?" Phil asked him with lowered eyelids.

"Oh, we're doing okay. That's some good hitting there, Dilly." He was hit again.

"I'm hungry," Shenzi remarked, "Right about now, my daddy would be making me some heartsy chicken," She licked her lips, "I can almost smell them in the marble wave." She stopped walking, and let go of the rope. "Ooh, they taste all juicy- oof!" She was surprised by the wagon bumping into her back, making her stumble.

"Stop it, Shenzi," Tommy spoke up, "You're making me hungry." Dil hit him with the bottle again.

They stopped at the top of the hill, but the twins gasped in horror at what was before them: Trees as far as their eyes could see! There was also a river gushing down below the hill. "Oh no!" Chuckie exclaimed.

"We can't see our houses from here, Tommy," Lil pointed out worriedly.

"We can't see _any_ houses from here," Phil rephrased.

Chuckie fell to his knees in despair. "We're doomed! Doomed! Doomed, I tell you!" A distance away, a fierce wolf spotted them.

At the scene of the truck wreck, the parents waited for anything that would help in the search, when the police woman found something. "Mrs. Pickle, I know this is hard for you, but can you identify his binky?" She held up the pacifier from the road, and Stu and Didi gasped in shock.

Just then, a police man found something else on the road, close to where the pacifier was, and turned to the parents. "Were any of the missing children wearing this?" He held up a purple bow headband with some small tears in it, presumably from sharp branches. Friar Tuck reacted with horror, as all the parents' eyes were on him.

Meanwhile, Chuckie had started crying in despair, when he saw Shenzi even more upset than him. He went over, and hugged her as they cried together. She yearned to be safe in her father's arms right now, but Chuckie was second best. "This is all Dil's fault, right guys?" Phil turned to them.

"Uh," Chuckie hesitated.

"Uh-uh!" Tommy protested. "This never would've happened if you hadn't putted him in the wagon in the first place, right, guys?"

"Uh, nuh-uh!"

"It's not our fault you got a bad, naughty, stinky baby for a brother!" Lil argued.

"He's _not_ naughty! He's just a... he's just a... a _baby!_ How could you be mad just because you're... Dil pulled one of the tabs on Tommy's diaper, so it fell to his ankles. "...Um... standing there all nakie?" Chuckie, Shenzi, and the twins gawked in surprise, while Lil was smiling antagonistically. "I mean, I'm sure he's trying to help. And side's, it's hot, phew, 'sploring in the woods all day. Ah! A little breeze feels good. Just what I needed!" He pulled his diaper back up, as he tried to stay positive. "Oh, thank you, Dil."

Dil then started hiccuping. "His hipups are really starting to bug me," Phil growled.

"Face it, Tommy. Having a baby brother just isn't what you expected," Lil glared.

Chuckie and Shenzi then spotted something in the distance. "Hey, you guys, look!" He pointed out. "Somebody's house!"

"Tommy was right!" Shenzi added.

"Wow! My sponsatility _does_ work!" Tommy cheered.

"Yeah, but who'd have a house way out there in the forest?" Phil wondered aloud.

"Maybe a lizard lives there," Tommy guessed.

"A lizard?" Chuckie furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"I thoughted lizards lived in window boxes," Shenzi expressed confusion as well.

"Not that kind! You know, a big guy with a pointy hat that grants wishes." Tommy walked up to the two-year-old girl. "All's we got to do is knock on the door and say we wanna go home. See? Then everything will be back to norman!"

"Thanks, Bob!" Phil praised.

"Thank you, Bob!" Lil added.

"Come on, guys! We're off to see the lizard!" Tommy went to lead the group, but tripped and fell on the ground.

An alarmed and concerned Chuckie ran over to check on him. "Oh, Tommy, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Tommy stood back up, "I just tripped in a little hole, that's all."

The toddlers saw a large footprint in the ground where he had fallen. Shenzi went up to study it. "Wow, it looks kinda like Spike's feet, but more like if he were a giant."

"I saw feetprints like that in our storybook," Phil pointed out, "A wolf made them, and then he ate that Little Red Riding girl."

"The wolf ate a girl?" Chuckie's hands went up to his mouth in alarm.

"Um, well, they got her out," Phil shrugged.

"I don't think it's a wolf, guys. If it was, we'd hear him say..." Tommy went to imitate a wolf's howl, only to hear a real one.

"Hey, that was pretty good," Phil complimented him.

"I didn't do anything," Tommy pointed out, shooting fear into their hearts. After hearing a more faint howl, the toddlers screamed, and piled into the wagon, with Chuckie pushing it, then climbing in as it rolled down the hill. "Do you see the wolf?" The bald toddler asked around.

"I don't know what he looks like," Chuckie tried to look.

"Teeth! Teeth and fur! And teeth!" Phil exclaimed. "Like Shenzi, only big and scary!" She shot him a glare.

Dil scooted up to the front, and grabbed the steering wheel. "No, Dil!" Tommy tried to stop him. Bad Dil! No!" Dil drove the wagon along the path, narrowly dodging trees, and through a serene clearing.

Elsewhere in the forest, a ranger was driving a Jeep along the path, training a new recruit. "Margaret? That's your name, isn't it? I'm sure you've run afoul of many a scary pedestrian. But out here, we have what you might call... hmm, how should I put it? Actual danger."

"Danger?" Margaret gasped in surprise.

"Grizzlies that'll rip the top off your car," Ranger Frank lectured her, "Bobcats, wolves, wolverines, which are something entirely different."

Just then, the Reptar wagon zoomed behind the Jeep, and Margaret caught a quick glimpse. "And dragons?! Ha!"

"Tommy, I saw some grown-ups!" Chuckie yelled. "Stop! Stop!"

"I don't know how!" Tommy tried all the buttons, but none of them stopped the wagon.

But they started heading for the edge of a cliff! "Well, I hope you figure it out, 'cause I didn't bring no bathee suit!" Lil exclaimed.

Tommy pulled on a lever, and screeched to a stop just barely over the edge, but the wagon fell back to safety. "Any further, and I would've needed a fresh undie-pants," Shenzi remarked to Chuckie.

Out of curiosity, Dil started playing with the brake, making the wagon roll forward! "Dil, no!" Tommy tried to stop him, but he let go of the brake lever, so they drove right over the edge! The toddlers screamed, with Shenzi and Chuckie hugging each other, until the wagon landed upright in the river, so everyone was splashed with water.

Just then, a special float around the front inflated, and the tip of the tail spun like a propeller. "Aqua Reptar, engaged." The kids looked on in awe as the wagon floated along the river. They rode under a bridge to the ranger's station, just as the Jeep drove by, narrowly missing them.

"I'm telling you, I saw a dragon!" Margaret exclaimed.

"Margaret..."

"A big green, fire-breathing dragon! I've got to call headquarters!" She rushed to the phone.

"While you're at it, you might ask for a new assignment, say, a city park," Frank walked up to the telescope, "'Cause, you see, out here in the country, you have to be just a little tougher." Just then, he saw the wagon in the river. "AAH! AAH! THE DRAGON! I JUST SAW IT! _I JUST SAW IT!_ "

"Where? Where?!" Margaret eagerly went for a look, but didn't see it. "Here? Where?"

"Bingo! Look at here!" Lou picked up a candy wrapper from the scene of the wreckage. "A wrapper from a Cynthia Sweet Bar."

"My angel!" Drew grabbed the wrapper. "She's been here!" He held it to his cheek.

"Yep, I figure she's tracking the sprouts. It's the Pickles' blood. I myself spent 15 days tracking Sitting Bull through the Northwest Territory. The year was 19..."

"Over here!" Chaz and Friar Tuck rushed over from the forest.

"We found some wheel tracks and baby footprints heading into the woods!" Chaz announced. "Actually, Tuck found them. I saw them."

"They must be in my Reptar wagon," Stu concluded.

""It's the perfect children's toy"!" Drew mocked him sarcastically. "You and your stupid inventions!"

"My stupid inventions?" He grabbed his brother's upper arms when he had an epiphany. "That's it!"

Betty grabbed an officer's bullhorn, and took charge. "All right, the pups are in the woods! You men follow those tracks!" She told the officers. "We'll head to the ranger's station and start the search from there! NOW MOVE! HUT, HUT, HUT!"

Stu, Drew Lou, Chaz, and Friar Tuck headed for the car, confusing Didi. "Stu, where are you going?!"

"Trust me, Deed! I have a plan!" He started driving back home at an illegal speed.

* * *

 **(A/N: Well... you know the disclaimer. XD Shenzi's "heartsy chicken" is chicken nuggets shaped like hearts. Just to avoid confusion.)**


	22. Ch 21: Separation

**(A/N: The adventure in the woods continues. Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 21

* * *

In the forest, the toddlers were still floating along the river, when Tommy decided to use a little imagination, as he climbed on top of the head. "Slob the poop deck, Mr. Phil! Hoist the ankle, number 1!" He then started singing. " _ **A pirate's life is a life for me!**_ "

" _ **Yo ho ho and a bottle of yum!**_ " Lil joined him.

" _ **I get seasick on the sea!**_ " Chuckie groaned.

" _ **Yo ho ho and a bottle of yum!**_ " Phil and Lil sang together.

" _ **Hoist the Reptar flag real high!**_ " Phil raised a pole with a diaper on it like a flag.

" _ **My sword is pointed to the sky!**_ " Tommy pointed his play sword upward.

" _ **You need a patch across your eye!**_ " Lil tied a cloth over Dil's eye, as Chuckie groaned nauseously.

" _ **From Zanzibar...**_ " Shenzi joined in.

" _ **To candy bar!**_ " Phil and the two-year-old girl pulled on a jump rope

" _ **Yo ho ho and a bottle of yum!**_ " He and Lil sang together again, as Chuckie's cheeks puffed up.

" _ **We search for treasures near and far!**_ " Tommy used a bottle as a telescope.

" _ **Yo ho ho and a bottle of yum!**_ " The twins sang together.

" _ **Beware your ship should cross our path!**_ " Lil splashed the water with one hand.

" _ **We'll shoot a cannon through your mast!**_ " Phil squirted a bottle.

" _ **Remove your gold baboons by half,**_ " Chuckie groaned, now unable to stand up.

" _ **Yo oh oh oh!**_ " Shenzi joined in again, as the twins splashed the redhead.

" _ **A pirate's life is the life for me!**_ " Tommy spun around on the pole.

" _ **Yo ho ho and a bottle of yum!**_ " Phil and Lil sang to Dil, who held onto the pole.

" _ **Adventure on the open sea,**_ " Chuckie slumped onto the back behind the tail.

" _ **Yo ho ho and a bottle of yum!**_ " The twins finished, as Shenzi climbed on his back.

Just then, the wagon hit a bump in the river, so Shenzi fell in! "Dil!" Tommy went for his little brother when he almost fell overboard, unintentionally leaving the black-haired girl to fend for herself.

"Shenzi!" Chuckie tried to get himself to jump in, but was paralyzed with fear. "T-Tommy, do something!" He didn't realize that Tommy was tending to Dil.

"Help me, Chuckie!" She cried out, trying to stay afloat, but then realized how shallow the water was, reaching up to only her thighs, and giggled at herself. But then, something was wiggling around in her skirt, so she reached in, and a fish had her index finger in its mouth. "Fish!" She threw it back in.

"Man overboard!" Phil yelled.

"She's a girl, Philip!" Lil pointed out.

"Who cares, Lillian?!"

"Hang on, Shenzi!" Chuckie jumped into the water, and walked/paddled over to her, then held onto her shoulders. "I've got you!"

"Here, grab this!" Lil pulled a lever, so a life preserver flew out, and landed around the two-year-olds. "Hang on, you guys!" The wagon started towing them behind, so it looked like they were water skiing, as they gripped onto one another.

"Look at them go!" Phil exclaimed.

After the two were thrown upward and dunked back in, the twins managed to pull them back in the wagon. "Tommy, why didn't you help her?" Chuckie asked him pitifully, as she caught her breath, their long hair dripping.

"I'm sorry, Chuckie, Shenzi, but Dil, he needed me, and he's just a..."

"Just a baby!" Phil and Lil finished annoyedly, as they dropped Chuckie onto Shenzi.

"Well, he..." She spoke up, but was cut off.

"Uh oh!" Lil noticed that they were floating closer to the brink of a waterfall!

"Hard to port side!" Tommy hastily commanded. "Turn! Turn around!" He tried to steer away from the edge. "Help me, you guys! Help!" Everyone went for the steering wheel, Shenzi's hands over Chuckie's, and they managed to drive away, but Dil grabbed a lever. "Dil, no!" He pulled on it, and the tail moved up, so they were forced back towards the edge, but Tommy pulled it back, so they moved forward again, as the two-year-olds fell in the back seats, and made it to the bank. From the harsh landing, the toddlers flew out, Tommy landing in a bush. His pocket watch flew out of his diaper, but he managed to catch it before it could fall in the river.

At the Pickles house, the fathers were in the basement, lowering the Dactar glider from the ceiling. "I knew my Dactar would come in handy," Stu remarked. The hook on the ceiling suddenly came undone, so the glider fell right on Lou! "Pop, are you okay?" Stu asked him in concern, but when the dust cleared, he saw him asleep under the glider, completely unharmed. "Oh, Pop."

"Phew," Friar Tuck sighed in relief.

In the forest, the toddlers were all pulling the wagon along the path, as Dil was sitting in it. "Do you think we'll still be able to find the lizard's house, Tommy?" Chuckie asked him.

"Uh, sure, Chuckie," Tommy replied nervously, "Uh, long as I got my sponsatility, we'll never be losted." He opened the pocket watch.

"Which way are we apposed to go?" Phil asked him.

"Um... uh... um... that way." Tommy started leading them, as Lil started pushing the wagon from behind. Little did they realize, they were not making any progress.

"Hey, lookie! Footprints!" Shenzi pointed out. "Maybe there's other babies around here!"

"Those are _our_ feetprints, Shenzi," Lil pointed out.

"You're leading us around and around, Tommy," Phil confronted him.

"Bu-but it was working before," He stammered.

"I don't think it ever worked!" Lil backed her twin up. "I think your sponsatility's broked, just like your brother!"

"My brother is not broked!" Tommy argued.

" _He_ pulled the lever!" She retorted.

"He tried to send us into the big Jasuzzi!" Phil added, as Chuckie and Shenzi walked away from the argument, their ears covered, until they spotted something.

"We could have drowneded!"

"Hey, you guys!" Chuckie gained their attention. "Clow-clow...!"

"What is it, you guys?" Lil asked them.

"Clown!" Shenzi yelled fearfully, pointing to a train car with a giant clown face painted on the side. It was the Banana Brothers Circus train that had crashed earlier on.

"What's a train doing in the middle of the forest?" Phil wondered aloud.

"Maybe some giant baby losted his choo choo," Lil guessed. Suddenly, the car door slid open, and the toddlers gasped at a mysterious figure towering over them in a coat and top hat that covered the head.

But then, 3 monkeys poked their heads out of the coat, scaring the kids into attempting an escape, but they were surrounded. One monkey grabbed onto Shenzi, bunching her shirt up, and he was pulled up by another to a high tree branch with her, as Chuckie tried to get her, but he was grabbed and pulled up as well. He swung out of the tree, and crashed through a picture, banging a drum as he marched back out unharmed. The drum opened up, and a smaller monkey jumped out, and the action was repeated twice, with the last little monkey drumming the third's head. One monkey took Tommy on a trike ride, while Phil and Lil each rode on another's feet while they walked on their hands, until they collapsed.

Up in the tree, one monkey noticed that Shenzi looked different from the other kids. _Very_ different. Since her shirt was bunched up, he poked her side in curiosity. "Ah!" She yelped, and fell off the branch. Chuckie ran over to catch her, but the monkey wrapped his tail around her waist, and dangled her out of the redhead's reach, then yanked her back up, and another monkey caught her, while he was ambushed.

2 monkeys fought by of the wagon, but they ran off after Dil hit their noses with his bottle. A female jumped down from the train with a parasol, while holding a baby, and the twins followed her lead, but with a parasol framework, and crash. In a tree, Tommy watched as one monkey peeled the bark off a branch, and ate the bugs inside, while 4 others ate off each other's backs. Lil took a bug off the 4th, but Phil took it, and ate it himself, as she glared at him. Shenzi and Chuckie were swung back and forth by 3 monkeys each, with his glasses falling onto Dil's face, and their heads collided harshly. "Ow!" They rubbed their aching foreheads.

The mother monkey took the glasses away, and put them on her baby's face, then took the bottle, and fed him. "Mine! Mine!" Dil protested.

Tommy did a handstand, then did a little dance as Phil rode by, until he heard his little brother cry. "What? What do you want?" He asked him, after Lil rode by like in a rodeo.

"Hungry, hungry," Dil complained pitifully.

Tommy rolled his eyes and reluctantly walked over to him, just as a blinded Chuckie slid on a monkey's back. "Oh, but I really wanna go play with the monkeys." He opened a jar of banana flavored baby food, gaining the apes' interest, then gave it to Dil.

"Hungry, hungry," Dil dumped it all out, getting most of it on his sleeper and face, and licked it off his hands.

Tommy tossed the jar away, and was searching for another when he was bombarded by monkeys, losing the bag, so he turned to the others. "Watch my brother! I gotta get the diapie bag!" He ran after the thieving monkeys.

They turned back to see 2 monkeys licking the food off of Dil. "Hey, leave him alone!" Chuckie scolded them, but since he couldn't see that well, he was helpless.

"Yeah, he's not a nanner!" Shenzi went to pull him away by one foot, but the baby monkey, who still wore Chuckie's glasses, jumped on her back, and started tickling her, so her grip was unintentionally loosened. "Eek! Hahahahahaha! Hehehehey!"

Chuckie took over for her, but was struggling. "Oh, no! Hey, guys, help! There's a monkey who's trying to take Tommy's brother!"

The twins stayed silent, until Phil broke it. "So?"

"Oh, just help us, okay?!"

"Stohohop ihihit!" Shenzi shoved the monkey away, and started helping Chuckie, whose hair was getting pulled by the baby monkey.

"Let go of my hair! Hey!"

Dil flew out of the monkeys' arms, and landed in Phil and Lil's, but another monkey tried to take him. "Paws off!"

Chuckie was trying to get his glasses back from the baby. "Let go!"

"Okay!" The twins mistakenly assumed that he referred to them, and let the monkey take Dil, with the others following.

After leaving Chuckie's glasses on the ground, the baby caught up with them. "Oh, just great," Chuckie felt around for them, then stood up, "I tell ya, it can't get any worser than..." He then heard a crack, then looked down, and saw that both lenses had cracked from him stepping on them. "This." He put them back on.

"At least the monkeys are gone," Phil panted.

"Yeah, and they took baby Dil with them," Lil added, as if it was a positive thing.

"They what?!" Shenzi exclaimed, as Chuckie gasped. They looked up, and saw the monkeys climbing up the tree, with Dil in tow.

Elsewhere in the forest, Angelica was still being dragged along by Spike. "Hey, Spike! Where are you going, you dumb dog?!" She then tripped on a rock, and fell to the ground, snapping Spike back. She then noticed that one of the wheels was crooked. "Hey! My rolly blade is cracked!" She then lamented for her doll, as Spike gnawed on his leg. "Oh, Cynthia. Are they taking care of you? Will they know to comb your hair, or change you into your sports jumper with matching neckerchief at lunch time?" She didn't notice a ferocious wolf just behind her back. "Pee-yew, Spike! Dog breath!" She tossed her broken skate behind her back, angering the wolf when it hit his head, so he snarled angrily. She then noticed the dog was in front of her, looking nervous. "Spike?" He yanked her away just before the wolf could bite her, then ran off with her in tow. The wolf growled as he watched them escape.

At the Pickles house, Stu was on the Dactar glider, set up on the roof for takeoff. "Don't worry; This time she'll fly. I'm facing _into_ the wind!" The handlebar then came loose, as Lou started the car, which had a rope tied to the bumper, and ready for the glider at the other end.

"He's ready?" He asked Chaz and Friar Tuck.

"No," Chaz replied.

"Go?"

" _NO!_ " Friar Tuck yelled hastily.

"Alrighty then!" Lou started driving, and the rope snared on Stu's ankle, so he was dragged along in the air, screaming as he flew haphazardly.

"We'll take my car!" Friar Tuck hastily led Chaz to his car, then followed Lou at a led-foot speed.

"Ohh, this is bad!" Shenzi expressed worry and nervousness.

"Very bad!" Chuckie agreed.

"Shh!" Phil shushed them. "Here comes Tommy."

"Put the blankie on him," Lil told her brother, and he did just that, as the leader of their group came back.

"Okay guys, I got it."

"Um, I think it's gonna rain, Tommy," Chuckie pointed out hastily.

"Uh huh," Shenzi nodded.

"Oh, yeah, we better go," Phil went to board the wagon.

"I gotta finish feeding my brother," Tommy took out a jar of banana baby food.

"I don't think he's hungry," Lil swatted the jar out of his hand and tossed it, so it fell in the wagon.

"Yeah. Besides, he's um..." Chuckie hesitated.

Tommy whipped the blanket up, and gasped upon seeing the baby monkey in his brother's place. "A monkey?!"

"Wow, look at that!" Phil feigned surprise.

"My brother turned into a monkey?!" Some thunder clapped in the sky.

"Come on, Tommy. We gotta get outta here," Chuckie felt nervous, as did Shenzi.

"I can't go home with my brother being a monkey!" Tommy exclaimed.

"But Tommy, we gotta get to the lizard's house," Shenzi reminded him.

"That's it!" He had an idea. "I'll get the lizard to wish him back into a people!"

"The lizard's only gonna give us one wish," Phil pointed out, as Tommy tugged on the wagon.

"Yeah, and if you use it up on Dil, how are we gonna get home?" Chuckie added in.

"He's my brother, Chuckie! I _have_ to wish him back!"

"You can't do that!" Lil protested.

"Yes I can! What would you do if _Phil_ turned into a monkey?"

"That's different; I _like_ Philip! Besides, you'd be wasting your wish anyway, 'cause that's not even your brother!" She gasped at realizing she spilled the truth. "Wait a minute."

Tommy turned to Chuckie. "Wha-a-at Lillian means i-i-is... um..." Chuckie hesitated, "The monkeys kinda took baby Dil, and we just, we thought you wouldn't mind a baby monkey instead," He quickly explained.

"What?!"

"Look it, Tommy, nobody likes him!" Lil planted her fists on her hips.

"We're gonna find that lizard, Tommy," Phil announced, "You can find your brother by yourself!" Shenzi stood by him.

Tommy turned to the redhead. "Will you help me, Chuckie?"

"Sorry, Tommy," He refused.

"But... but you're my bestest friend."

"Yeah, well, if-if I'm your bestest friend, then how come when I got throwed up on, you didn't help me? Huh, huh?" He interrogated him. "And when Shenzi falled overboard, you didn't help me save her. And then when the monkey dropped me, you didn't even care about my boo-boo," He finished pitifully. Shenzi trotted over, and hugged him.

"Face it, Tommy, you don't got a bestest friend no more," Lil confronted him, "All you gots is a brother!"

Tommy was close to tears, feeling dejected at their betrayal. "Oh, um... fine. I'll go find him myself." He then walked away on his own, dragging the bag behind, and leaving the others behind with the wagon. The 2-year-olds watched guiltily, until more thunder clapped, and rain started sprinkling down. Behind them, the baby monkey ran off, leaving the diaper he wore behind.

Elsewhere, Spike was hiding under a fallen tree trunk for shade from the rain, while Angelica was trying to tug him out. "You dumb butthound!" She then gave up, dropping the leash. "Fine! I hope you turn into a frog! Nyah!" She stretched her lips out in a mocking face, then stomped away. "I'll find Cynthia myself!"

She then started singing of her desire to find her doll. " _ **One way or another, I'm gonna find you! I'm gonna get you, get you, get you, get you!**_ " She jumped across rocks in the river. " _ **Some way or another, I'm gonna win you! I'm gonna get you, get you, get you, get you, Cynthia!**_ " She paddled along the river on a log after climbing a hill. " _ **Oh, Cynthia, I need to see you! I need to see you, see you, see you!**_ " She climbed along a long branch, jumped to the ground. " _ **From that kid, or his brother, I'm gonna get you! I'm gonna get you, I'll get you!**_ " She climbed the mountain some more. " _ **I'll find the full diaper bag!**_ " Turned out, Spike was waiting for her on top of the mountain when she reached the top, as she imagined her doll in his place. " _ **And if you're ripped or you're hurt, I'll push them in dirt!**_ **Yeah!** " For the end, she stomped her foot in the handle of his leash, splashing Spike in his face, and startled him into running and dragging her again. "Aah! Ooh! Oh! Stop! I said stop! _CYNTHIA-A-A!_ "

* * *

 **(A/N: Well, the group has been separated. You know the disclaimer; I don't own any songs used here, and possibly in the future.)**


	23. Ch 22: Dil is One of Them

**(A/N: Ooh, this is a long one! Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 22

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After venturing off on his own, Tommy found 2 monkeys with a crying Dil, trying to lug him up a small ledge, but they dropped him after seeing the older baby. "Hey! Gimme back my brother! Shoo!" They grabbed Dil's wrists again, but Tommy tried to tug him away by his ankles. "Get outta here, you monkeys! Go!" After hearing a wolf howl, the monkeys showed fear and ran off, leaving a now quiet Dil behind. "Come on, Dil," Tommy grabbed his upper arms, and started dragging him away, "Let's get outta this rain."

At the rangers' station, a nervous Frank was trying to lecture Margaret, who was listening to the radio for any news. "I know you rookies can get excited and lose your heads, but veterans like me know the key is to remain calm and cool and collected." When the toddlers' distraught mothers plus Howard entered, he panicked and fell from his chair.

"Please, our kids are lost in the storm," Didi pleaded, "You've _got_ to help us!"

"THERE'S DRAGONS OUT THERE!" Frank screamed deliriously. "I'M A PARK RANGER, NOT A KNIGHT AT A ROUND TABLE! GO FIND SOMEBODY WITH A LANCE!" He sat on the floor with his knees to his chest.

"Never mind him," Margaret took charge, "Come with me." She left with the parents, shaking her head at Frank before closing the door.

Meanwhile, the two Pickles babies had taken refuge under a large tree trunk, shielded from the rain. "We'll just have a little bottle and take a nice nappy," Tommy took out a bottle from the bag, "And everything will be okay."

"Mine! Mine!" Dil stole the bottle, and started drinking greedily out of it.

"But I'm hungry too!" Tommy tried to take it back. "Stop it! Dil, that's enough! Stop it!" He fell back when Dil's grip loosened, but the bottle was completely empty. "You didn't leave any for me!"

Dil let out a little burp. "All gone," He yawned, and curled up against a root.

Tommy tossed the bottle away, dragged Dil closer to him, then took out a blanket, and covered them both with it for warmth, but the younger baby stubbornly made his foot stick out. "Dil," Tommy moved it back under the blanket, only for him to stick his arm out, "Dil!"

All of a sudden, Dil rolled away, completely wrapping himself in the blanket other than his head. "My blankie! My blankie!"

"Dil!" Tommy scolded him.

"My blankie! My blankie!" Dil glared.

"I need some blankie too," He shivered, and tried to tug it away, but his efforts were in vain. He just ended up dragging Dil out of their shelter.

"Mine! Mine!" Dil protested. "Mine!"

"Mine!" Tommy argued.

"Mine!" Tommy ended up tearing off a piece of the blanket, and falling into a mud puddle. "Yucky, lookie," Dil giggled and clapped his hands.

At this point, Tommy snapped. He had enough of his naughty, selfish ways. "You think it's funny?! Phil and Lil was right! You're a bad, naughty baby, and you're never gonna get any better! I'M THROUGH BEING YOUR BIG BROTHER! I DON'T WANT MY SPONSITILITY NO MORE!" He threw the pocket watch away in fury, so it hit the tree and opened.

2 of the monkeys nearby were watching the scene. "Monkey!" Dil cooed. "My monkey! Mine!"

Tommy then saw them as well. "You want monkeys? Oh, okay! I'll give you monkeys! You'll have a monkey mommy, and a monkey daddy, and a monkey _brother!_ I shoulda let my friends take you back to the hopsicle, but, no, I said, "He didn't mean it." I said!" He kicked a frog in anger. ""He was only playing!"" He kicked a bottle away. "Well, I was wrong! Now I don't even _have_ friends!" He tossed a diaper, a jar of baby powder, and Cynthia out of the bag, interesting the monkeys. "Dil wants monkeys, and monkeys want the nanners!" He took out a jar of banana baby food. "So, everybody gets what they want!"

"My nanna, my nanna." Tommy prepared to pour the food on Dil, but the latter was frightened by the lightning and Tommy's furious expression.

Tommy softened up, and set the food down as Dil hugged him. "I'm sorry, Dil."

"To-To," Dil mumbled.

"It's okay, Dil," He took him back to their makeshift shelter, passing by his pocket watch, "Everything is gonna be okay."

Elsewhere, Shenzi and Chuckie had to be pushed on by the twins, because the lightning made the trees look like horrifying monsters. " _DADDY!_ " Shenzi screamed in terror. The lightning and thunder were going to traumatize her. When a bolt struck a tree in front of them, they ran for cover when it toppled over. A pair of tiny black sneakers were left next to the trunk.

"Philip?" Lil peered over the trunk cautiously, so Phil came out of hiding. "Chuckie?" She gasped in horror at seeing the abandoned sneakers. "Oh, Shenzi!"

"Lil?" Chuckie peeked over the trunk.

"She always loved climbing trees," Phil shared a few words depressingly, as Chuckie jumped to the other side of the trunk, and kneeled down in front of the black dirty shoes, "Now a tree's climbed on her."

"She was one of my b-bestest friends," Chuckie cried, holding onto the sneakers, "Speak to me, Shenzi!"

"You guys know where my shoes are?" The black-haired girl walked up to them, her white socks quickly getting muddy.

"Shenzi!" Chuckie ran over, and hugged her tightly, as the twins showed joy at her presence. "I don't like this aventure anymore, Shenzi! I _never_ liked it!"

"Gosh, Chuckie," Phil came up to them, "This time, we really _are_ doomed."

"Doomed! Doomed! Doomed!" Lil burst into tears, so Phil covered his ears.

"Slap out of it, Lillian!" Phil clapped Shenzi's shoes together, making her stop. "We gotta to find the lizard!"

"I don't know, guys," Chuckie hesitated, "If we find the lizard, and Tommy doesn't, how's he ever gonna get home?"

"What're you worried about _him_ for?" Phil confronted him. "He's the one who was gonna let Shenzi get eated by a fish!"

"All he cares about now is baby Dil," Lil added angrily.

"Yeah, well, _somebody_ has to!" Chuckie pointed out. "Don't they?" He and Shenzi clung to one another when thunder boomed and lightning flashed in the sky.

Under the tree, after Tommy got his watch back outside, a crack of thunder hit, so a scared, homesick Dil started crying, so he went to comfort him. " _ **Baby, please, rest your head?**_ " Tommy started singing to him, as he covered him with the bigger part of the blanket. " _ **Soon we will be home in bed.**_ " He fluffed the bag like a pillow. " _ **Until then, I'll protect you like no other.**_ " He retrieved the other part of the blanket, and wiped his brother's tears away. " _ **You're okay for a little brother.**_ "

"My Tommy," Dil cooed, holding onto his index finger with one hand.

"My Dil." Tommy laid close to him, and Dil took the small part of the blanket, and laid it over Tommy, showing he had learned to share with him. They both then fell asleep, finally feeling peace and tranquility.

But in a different area the next early morning, there was none of those things. "Oh, we'll _never_ find them!" Didi cried in despair. "Can't you do something?"

The Jeep had gotten stuck in a mud puddle during the search. "Come on, baby, come on!" Margaret tried to drive it out as Drew and Howard pushed on it from the back, but it wouldn't budge.

"Sky Pickle to ground Pickle," They heard Stu's voice on the car radio.

"Stu!" Didi grabbed the speaker. "Stu, is that you?"

"Roger that, Deed!" He had succeeded in flying the glider over the forest. "We have aerial search!" He then crashed through a flock of migrating geese, and struggled to keep flying smoothly.

Meanwhile, the now angry monkeys marched over to the tree to gang up on the two babies. "Oh, no," Tommy held Dil in protection, "Nice monkeys."

One reached in, but he and another were pulled back. "Not so fast, you monkeys!" Phil ordered; He and Lil were now defending their friends! They let go, so the monkeys snapped back down, then ran off with the others.

Tommy ran out of the shelter, happy to see them. "Lil! Phil!" He embraced them each in turn. "You came back!" The three had a group hug, until Tommy realized that two of them were missing. "But-but where...?"

"I am Reptar, the perfect children's toy!" Chuckie came to the rescue, driving the wagon to the group with Shenzi next to him, so the monkeys ran for cover.

"Chuckie, Shenzi!" Tommy cheered.

"Hi, Tommy!" They greeted him together.

In a fit of bravery, Shenzi grabbed a jar of banana baby food, and took off the lid. "Hey, you dumb monkeys! You want nanners?! Come and get 'em!" She ran off, holding the jar out, as the monkeys went after her.

"Shenzi, no!" Chuckie exclaimed.

"Gosh, I never knowed she was so brave," Lil remarked in awe.

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss her," Phil lamented, then perked up, "Well, we better get in the wagon and get outta here."

"No!" Tommy protested. "You guys take Dil and go look for the lizard." Lil held onto Dil. "I gotta go help my friend." He started trying to find the way to go with his watch.

"I'm going too!" Chuckie boldly followed him.

At the train wreck, Angelica was still being towed by Spike, until she fell on the ground, and made him stop. "Dumb dog. There's no babies around here." She was dragged again, until she bumped into Shenzi! " _There_ you are! Hand over my Cynthia, Tuck!" She had let go of the leash, so Spike ran off without her.

"Run, Angelica! The monkeys is coming!" She continued running. "The monkeys is coming!"

"Huh?" Angelica stood up, and saw the circus monkeys running towards her. One of them knocked her over, and then she saw her doll dropped onto the ground. " _Cynthia!_ " She went to grab her, but one of the monkeys swiped her away. "Hey!" She grabbed onto his tail, and was towed yet again. "Stop!"

Meanwhile with Tommy and Chuckie, they were still searching for their black-haired friend when they encountered someone else: Spike! They were on their backs, as he licked their faces. "Spike! You found us!" Tommy cheered.

Shenzi was still running from the monkeys, until she tripped, and fell at the edge of a cliff. Tommy and Chuckie were now riding on Spike's back to speed up their search. When she was cornered, she threw the jar in the river, but the wind blew the food on her face, and shirt, even dribbling down her neck and chest to her stomach. "Ugh!" She recoiled. The monkeys watched in despair as the jar fell in the water, never to be seen again, then realized that the food was all over her after catching the scent. She felt nervous when they approached her, now angry. "Ohh, nice monkeys," She backed away, "Nice monkeys. I was only kidding. Don't be mad at me, please?" She fell to the ground, as they started licking the food off of her. "Okay. Help! He-hehehey!" She burst into forced laughter and struggled when they started licking the food off her sides and stomach. This, and the previous event, was going to change her view of monkeys and apes forever. But then, Spike came barking, so the monkeys scattered. "Spike! Thank goodness!" She giggled when he licked her face.

"Come on, Shenzi!" Chuckie pulled her up on Spike's back behind him, so she had her arms around his waist, as the dog growled at the monkeys.

Tommy took out his watch, and pointed it to a fire tower. "Look! The lizard's house! Let's find the others!" Spike stood on his hind legs like a horse. "We gots a lizard to see!" He started running back in the forest, with the monkeys after them.

"Oh, hey, hey, hey, hey," Chuckie exclaimed from the bumpy ride, as he held onto Tommy's diaper, "Ohh! Ohh! Spike! I can't look! I can't look!"

"Spike, slo-whoa-whoa-ow do-wow-own!" Shenzi yelled, holding onto Chuckie's shirt and shorts.

Suddenly, Spike ran under a low branch, so the 3 toddlers were knocked off his back, and on the ground. Chuckie landed on his backside, while Tommy landed on his back, with his feet up, and Shenzi fell on her stomach. They looked up, only to see the dog run off, as if not noticing they were gone. "Spike!" Tommy tried to call him back, but the monkeys surrounded them. "Spike!"

The twins heard him, then went to investigate, and joined the 2-year-olds in the circle. Dil, who was laying on the bag in the wagon, noticed the brake lever. "My ball!" He grabbed onto it, so the wagon rolled down the hill.

"Don't let them take me, Tommy!" Chuckie pleaded, and one of the monkeys grabbed his hair. "I don't wanna be monkey boy!" They started tugging on the toddlers' clothes, shooting fear into their hearts.

"Hang onto your diapies, babies!" The wagon came to their rescue, scaring the monkeys away, and the kids climbed in.

"Good one, Dil," Phil praised him.

"Thanks, Dil!" Tommy hugged him.

"Dilly, you're my hero!" Lil gushed, and kissed his head. "Bye-bye, monkeys!"

Meanwhile, Angelica still had a hold on the monkey who had Cynthia in his mouth. "Stop it!" She finally bit his tail, so he ran off with a screech of pain, leaving her doll behind. She picked her up, and kissed her in joy. "Cynthia!" She then saw the wagon roll by. "Hey, you stupid diaper bags! Wait for me!" She hopped in, after the twins fended off two of the apes, and sat at the tail. "Dumb monkeys!" The wagon started rolling along a railroad track, and into a mining tunnel, breaking a "Do Not Enter" sign. They then rode over an old, rickety bridge over the river. "After all I've done for you babies," Angelica chastised them, "You were gonna leave me and Cynthia behi-I-I-I-I!" She was catapulted in the air when a wheel was caught in a hole, as the twins watched.

"I didn't know she could fly," Phil remarked.

"I think it's 'cause she's a witch," Lil guessed, and they covered their eyes when she went back down, and dangled from one of the boards by one of her dress straps. Her last skate came loose, and fell in the river below.

"Hang on, Angelica!" Tommy took action.

In the sky, the pesky Rex Pester was in his helicopter for a news report. "A truckload of babies and their pet horse lost in the woods. Our hearts go out to their grief-stricken parents..." Just then, Stu's glider crashed in through the opening. "Pickles! Now look what you've done!" Stu and the helicopter pilot fought over their respective controls. "Are you out of your mind, Pickles?!" Rex pushed him out with both legs, but the pilot lost the throttle! "And I never won an Emmy!" He sobbed as the helicopter fell from the sky, and crashed in the forest.

"Oops," Stu dropped the throttle, and grabbed his own, "I'm coming, Tommy. I'm coming, Dil. Whoa! Ah!" The propellers fell off, making him unsteady, but he kept pedaling.

On the bridge, the toddlers were pulling the wagon, as Angelica held onto it to safety. "Hurry up, babies!"

Behind them, the angry monkeys came back. "Don't let 'em take me!" Chuckie pleaded.

"Or me!" Shenzi hugged him in fear.

"Don't let 'em take _Cynthia!_ "

"I don't think they're gonna take anyone; Look!" Lil pointed out.

The monkeys fearfully ran back in the tunnel, so the toddlers plus Angelica jumped for joy. "Yay!"

"Yeah! Go home, monkeys!" Lil yelled to them.

"Hooray!" Angelica cheered.

"Stupid monke...!" Shenzi exclaimed, but the joy was sucked away by a menacing growl just behind them.

They turned, and gasped in horror; A big, fierce wolf was heading for them! "We wanna go home, we wanna go home," Chuckie chanted, as Shenzi hugged him again, her chin shivering in fear. The growling wolf approached them, as they screamed in terror, holding onto one another.

"Yuckies!" Dil exclaimed.

Just then, Spike appeared out of nowhere, and pinned the wolf on his back! "Yay!" The kids cheered for him.

They were nervous for him, but continued giving support. "Yay, Spike!" Tommy cheered.

"Spike, Spike!" Dil bounced in his seat.

The dog continued fighting the wolf to defend his little humans. The wolf tore off his collar, but he had him on his back again. Although the wolf harshly swatted him, so he tumbled off the bridge, and held onto the ledge for dear life! "Oh no, Spike!" Tommy cried out. "Spike!"

"You gotta get outta there, Spikey!" Lil yelled fearfully.

Shenzi then decided to take action. "Hey, you dumb wolf!" She blew a raspberry to get his attention away from Spike, and he started walking towards her!

"Shenzi, no!" Chuckie exclaimed in terror. Just before the wolf could attack her, as she had her eyes covered, Spike bit his tail, and started dragging him down through a hole in the bridge.

"Spike!" The kids cried out, and both canines fell in the river.

They then started to cry over the tragic loss. "Oh Spike," Tommy hugged Dil as he teared up. Lil wiped her eyes, and Shenzi hugged Chuckie as he and Phil stayed quiet in despair.

"Dumb dog," Angelica choked up, "Why'd you have to go, and..." She started sobbing.

In the sky, Stu managed to regain his balance, but he gasped when he saw something green on the bridge: The Reptar wagon! And the kids too! "Deed, I found them! They're over by the rangers' station! I'm going i-i-i-in!" The glider crashed into the station, which was thankfully vacant, as the toddlers gasped in surprise. Chuckie now had Dil on his back. Stu stood up, feeling woozy from the crash, as he groaned.

"The lizard!" The kids breathed in awe. Stu clumsily walked closer to them on the bridge.

Tommy pulled up his diaper in determination, and came closer, not realizing who it really was, as he held onto the bigger piece of Spike's collar. "Please, Mr. Lizard, we wish we could go..." He stopped himself, and looked back at his friends, who were still crying over the loss of their beloved dog, and Shenzi and Lil nodded. "We wish we had our doggy back." He held out the collar. Stu attempted to come closer, but the board broke under his weight, so he busted through it. Tommy went to look after he heard familiar barking, and to his joy, Spike was down there, safe and sound! He was standing on the glider structure, licking Stu's face. "Spike!" The others ran over to look.

"He's alive!" Phil cheered.

"Thank you, Mr. Lizard!" Lil waved down to the "lizard".

They looked back when they heard tires screech, and saw car headlights. To their delight, their parents were running up to them! "My babies! My babies! Oh, Dil!" Chuckie let Didi pick Dil up, then ran to Chaz. Tommy ran in her arms, as she shed tears of joy. "My darlings!"

"We're here!" Howard embraced Lil, as Betty had Phil in her arms. "Betty-Betty and Daddy are here!"

"You rascals!" Betty and Howard shared a hug with their twins.

"Daddy's here! Oh, Chuckie!" Chaz spun his son around with joy.

"Shenzi, thank the Lord you're safe!" Friar Tuck hugged his little girl, and kissed her temple over her hair as she shed happy tears.

"Angelica, sweetheart, everything's going to be okay!" Charlotte comforted her daughter, who was in Drew's arms, and kissed her head.

"Oh, Mommy! Oh, Daddy!"

The monkeys watched the heartwarming, emotional reunion in bewilderment from the wagon. Charlotte's phone suddenly started ringing and she took it out, but instead of answering it, she tossed it in the river. Lou was pulling Stu up on dry land with a rope. "You've got the Pickles spirit, son!" He praised him, as Spike shook the water out of his fur. "Maybe not the brain, but the spirit!"

"Oh Stu, you did it!" Didi cheered. "You found our boys!"

Stu hugged them all, and picked up the pocket watch when it fell to the ground. He smiled emotionally at seeing it still in perfect condition, and saw the boys close like in the picture. "Yeah, I guess I did."

Just then, Igor and Serge arrived at the scene in a police car, looking for their monkeys. "My little furry comrades!" Igor cheered.

"Splendid monkeys, come to papa!" Serge called them over. When the apes ran over to them, the toddlers clung their parents in fear. "Who's your daddy?" He kissed one of the monkeys on the lips.

A woman reporter came to the scene with her cameraman. "Babies and monkeys, both lost. Now both found!"

An injured Rex, who now wore a neck brace and had a black eye, a crutch, and bandages on his head and one arm, then barged in. "This is _my_ story, pal!" He shoved her away. "I'm Rex Pester. Stay tuned!" Just then, the monkeys ganged up on him. "Aah! No, not my toupee! No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!"

"Go get him, you little simians!" Betty laughed, along with the other parents.

"Hey, Rex, time for your close-up!" Charlotte mocked him.

"Oh, dear, too bad," Chaz was the only one who showed sympathy. At least a little bit.

In Didi's arms, Dil drank from a fresh bottle, but stopped before he could finish the milk, and gave it to Tommy, who happily drank it up. "I'm sorry about all this, Drew," Stu turned to his brother.

"It's alright, little brother," Drew assured him, "For a nincompoop, you're not half bad."

With that, the families headed back for the cars, talking amongst themselves, as Margaret towed the Reptar wagon for them. Shenzi peeked over her father's shoulder, relishing the comfort he provided to her, and saw the monkeys being taken to one of the police cars. The leader, the one who was more handsy with her, seemed to stare at her, so she sunk down nervously. Friar Tuck thought she was still nervous about her time in the forest, so he held her closer, and she laid on his shoulder.

"So, that was our big aventure," Chuckie narrated a new Okey-Dokey Jones fantasy, on the same quest as last time, "The monkeys founded their daddies, and we all gots to go home, and have heartsy chicken. 'Cept Dil, 'cause he gots no teeth." Chuckie now had Dil on his back, wearing a Viking helmet. They stood in a tower again, as Dil was lifted up to where Tommy was, "But if you think things went back to the way they was before, you're wrong, 'cause now, thanks to baby Dil, they was even better!" He managed to grab the idol, which was actually a banana split, and they toppled over. Dil slid over to the oven, lightly bumping into it, but the ice cream still remained intact, so the toddlers cheered for him.

"Way to go, Dilly!" They all praised him.

l-l

That night, Shenzi was put to bed after spending the rest of the day in Friar Tuck's comforting embrace. He would've had trouble in getting her to loosen up, if he even tried in the first place. He didn't want her out of his sight after everything in the forest. Although when it was her bedtime, he had to lay her in her big girl bed. "G'night, sweetheart," He pulled her covers up to her shoulders, as she gripped them with her tiny fingers, and kissed her forehead, "Just yell if you need me." He patted her head, then left the room after turning her nightlight on.

Unfortunately, another storm was brewing outside. The first had stopped the night before, but another had started up after she was asleep. Her eyes squeezed shut as a bad dream began in her subconscious.

l-l

 **She was back in that dreadful forest, only with one difference: She was alone. No Chuckie, no Tommy, Phil, Lil, or Dil. Not even Angelica, or Spike. "Hello?" She called out. "Chuckie?" Nothing. It was as if she was the only living being in the whole forest. She decided to just start walking, hoping to find her way home on her own. She also hoped that her friends were at their homes as well.**

 **She ended up on the rickety bridge over the river, although a storm was still going on, unlike how it actually went. She froze upon hearing a ferocious, familiar growl, and turned around, only to see the wolf! "Ohh!" She backed away when he approached her. "D-don't eat me! I taste yucky!" She suddenly stepped in the hole, and her clothes were snagged in the wood, so she couldn't escape! "Ohh, no!" She tried to pull herself out, as the wolf came closer and closer. "No!" She tried to punch the wood, but wasn't strong enough. "St-stay away!"**

 **As lightning illuminated the sky, the wolf pounced! "NO-O-O-O-O!"**

l-l

"NO!" She shot awake, and breathed heavily as she realized she was in her bedroom. She quickly curled up when lightning flashed, lighting up her room. By now, the electricity had gone out, so her nightlight was off. Feeling helpless and terrified, she did the first thing that came to her mind. "WA-A-A-A-A-AH-H-H-H!" She wailed at the top of her lungs, as tears fell.

Friar Tuck rushed into the room, and saw her shivering with her blanket over face, still sobbing. "It's okay, sweetheart, you're okay," He tried to sooth her, although the storm wasn't exactly helping, "Daddy's here, honey. You're not in that horrible forest anymore. You're home, safe and sound with me. I won't let anything happen to you." When another clap of thunder associated with a flash of lightning made her hysterical again after she was calmed down, he safely guessed that she now has a phobia of thunder and lightning, more so than normal for a baby. Plus she seemed terrified of the circus monkeys, more so than the other kids, so she just may have a phobia for apes as well.

He then decided to let her sleep with him for the night, if it would make her feel safe and secure. He walked into his room, and laid her on his bed as she still cried, but was more quiet. "Here, you sleep with me tonight." She sniffled and wiped her eyes with little whimpers. "Anything to keep you safe and comfortable." She crawled over to the pillows, and almost flopped down, looking drowsy with a little babble. She looked at him innocently as he carefully laid next to her. "I'll keep your nightmares away, sweetheart. They're no match for your daddy." She let out a small giggle, making a smile grow on his face. After she let out a cute, squeaky yawn, she had fallen asleep. "G'night, my little angel," He brushed her soft, now clean hair from her face, then fell asleep himself.

* * *

 **(A/N: And thus their first adventure with Dil has come to an end. You know the disclaimer. I've had the part with the tree falling planned for so long now. The ending with Shenzi at home was improvised, because I forgot to write it until the last minute.)**


	24. Ch 23: The Murky Ball

**(A/N: Sorry this one took so long! It's based on the episode "No Naps". Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 23

* * *

One day at Tommy's house, 4-month-old Dil was crying as Didi was trying to comfort him. Angelica was coloring at the doorway, glancing up at them. Chuckie, Shenzi, and the twins were playing with the ball, while Tommy sat sleepily, not doing anything. Chuckie noticed when he just let the ball bounce off his head. "What's wrong, Tommy?" He asked him.

"Oh, nothin'," Tommy replied, "I'm just a little sleepy; Dil was crying all night."

"Hey, thanks for watching my little angel this afternoon," Drew patted Angelica's head.

"No problem, bro. In fact, it'll give Angelica a chance to try out my latest invention." Stu held up a pink and yellow striped ball. "The Merry Magic Music Ball!" He knelt down to Angelica's level, "Once you press this button, it becomes a gateway to enchantment! Just make sure you share it with the other kids." The toddlers watched from the playpen.

Drew opened the door to head out, and turned to his daughter. "Have fun, princess."

"Okay, Daddy!" She put on her usual "sweet" facade, so he left, and Stu walked out of the room. Angelica then stood up, and walked to the playpen with the ball.

"What's that, Angelica?" Chuckie asked her.

"I dunno. Some murky magic thing." She pressed the button at the top, and the flaps opened to reveal a carousel, which spun around as music played. She gasped in awe.

"Wow!" Chuckie watched.

"It's so pretty!" Shenzi remarked.

"What do you think it is?" Phil wondered aloud.

The music stopped playing, so the carousel lowered back inside the ball. "Only the bestest, neatest toy in the whole world!" Angelica sneered at the toddlers. "And you babies can't play with it."

"What? But Tommy's daddy tolded you to share with us!" Shenzi pointed out.

"Well," She hesitated, "Sure, he _said_ that, but he forgot it's just for growed-up kids. See? It says so right here." She pointed to the bottom of the ball, which actually read "Pickles Industries".

"I think we're growed-up enough to play with it, Angelica," Phil glared.

"Ha! _You?_ If you're so growed-up, then you could um..." She spotted Tommy's sippy cup on the floor in the playpen, "Drink out of that sippy cup over there!"

"We can do that!" Chuckie showed determination.

"That's easy!" Phil backed him up.

"Me, I can!" Lil added.

"Easy measy!" Shenzi planted her hands on her hips.

" _Without_ the sippy top," Angelica added deviously.

The toddlers gasped in shock at that. "Whoa! It can't be that hard!" Phil grabbed the cup, took the top off, and tried to drink the grape juice out of it, only to spill some on his shirt.

He sheepishly gave it to Lil, who had the same result, and had some juice on her face. She then handed it to a nervous Chuckie, so he tried it for himself. He ended up spilling on his shirt as well, and a bit on his face, and Shenzi had the same result after she gave an attempt. She lowered the now empty cup to reveal Angelica's evil smile. "Sorry, _babies._ " She walked away, but Chuckie stopped her.

"Wait! I'll bet Tommy can do it!"

The twins walked up to the sleepy baby, and helped him stand up. "Okay there, Tommy," Phil muttered. Chuckie gave him the cup, and when he drank what remained out of it, there was no spillage, although he fell on his back in fatigue.

"See, see? Tommy did it!" Chuckie helped him back up.

"Yay!" Lil cheered. "Now we can play with the murky ball!"

"You think _that_ makes you growed up?" Angelica taunted them. "If you babies was _really_ growed up, then you could, um..."

"What?" Shenzi glared.

"Uh... do what _I_ do every day: Stay up through _naptime._ "

The 2-year-olds and the twins expressed how easy that would be, but Tommy was reluctant. "Uh, guys? Guys!" He tried to protest.

"Good luck, babies," Angelica taunted them, then walked away, laughing evilly.

Tommy finally came up to Chuckie. "Uh, I don't think this is a very good idea, Chuckie."

"Sure it is, Tommy," He assured him.

"But, I, I'm really tired. I don't think I can stay up all the way through my nap."

"Just think about the toy, Tommy," Chuckie suggested with excitement, "Just think of how much fun it'll be!"

Tommy let out a yawn. "I suppose I can try."

Just then, Didi came up to the playpen with a blanket for each of the kids. "Okay kids, time for your nap."

"Boy, the babies sure look tired, Aunt Didi," Angelica claimed, "Want me to get some extra pillows for 'em?"

Before Didi could answer, she heard Dil crying upstairs. "Thank you, Angelica. That's very sweet of you." She headed upstairs to tend to him.

Snickering evilly, Angelica grabbed some pillows from the couch. "Sweet dreams, babies." She walked up to the playpen, and dropped the pillows in. "So, _sleepy?_ " She taunted them.

"No," Chuckie put his fisted hands on his hips in determination.

"Nope," Phil crossed his arms.

"Uh-uh," Lil shook her head, her arms crossed as well.

"Not at all," Shenzi replied. Tommy simply shook his head, then let out a yawn.

Chuckie grabbed the ball from the floor close by. "Come on, guys, let's play a game to help us stay awake." They started throwing it around like they usually did.

"There's gotta be a way to get those babies to nap," Angelica said to herself quietly.

At this time, Didi came down with Dil in her arms. "Dil's just wide awake. Maybe a little baby food will help." She walked in the kitchen with him. "Sometimes a full tummy is all a baby needs to fall asleep."

That gave Angelica an idea. "A full tummy, huh?" She set the ball on a desk, then came back to the playpen. "Well, I guess since you babies aren't gonna take a nap, how about I get you a little something to eat while you play?" She opened the playpen fence, and grabbed onto Phil around his chest. "Mind giving me a hand there, Phil?"

"S-sure." She then dragged him out of the room.

"You know, she's really much nicer to us since we growed up," Lil pointed out.

Angelica hid with Phil, keeping her hand over his mouth when Didi walked upstairs with a sleeping Dil, then ran in the kitchen with Phil trying to keep up. "Hmm, now, what should we get for you babies?" She then spotted something perfect. "Say, _those_ look good!" She grabbed a jar of peas baby food from the counter, and sniffed at it, reacting with disgust, but tried to hide it. "Mmm, peas!"

Phil started eating the food profusely, and was surprised. "Hey, you're right, Angelica! These are pretty good!" Angelica opened another jar with some struggle, then gave it to him.

Before long, Phil had emptied every jar in the house, but to her confusion, he didn't seem tired in the slightest. "Hmm, I thought Aunt Didi said a full tummy makes them fall asleep." Just then, Phil laid face-up on the floor, out like a light. "That's better."

Tommy, Chuckie, and the girls were playing with the ball, when Angelica dragged Phil back in the playpen. Lil was devastated to see him now asleep. "Philip!" She cried.

"What happened, Angelica?" Tommy stood up sleepily.

"Phil just kept eating everything himself," Angelica fibbed, "I told him it wasn't very nice. Then he just fell asleep."

"But... he... never ever sleeped without _me!_ " Lil cried in despair, and lunged down to hug him. "Philip!"

Tommy scooped some food off of Phil's face with one finger, then studied it. "Hmm, something smells funny here, guys," He turned to Chuckie and Shenzi.

"I think maybe it's Lil," Chuckie whispered.

"No. I gots a feeling Angelica did this," Tommy headed to the kitchen with Chuckie, "Uh, we'll be right back, you guys. You stay here, Shenzi."

"Okay," She nodded.

As the two boys left, Angelica was comforting Lil. "We promised we'd never nap alone!"

"How sad," Angelica feigned sympathy, "Y'know, it kinda reminds me of that story."

"Story?" Lil sniffled.

"Sure," They stood up, and walked to the pillows. "The one about the brother and sister puppies that always fell asleep together."

"I never heared that one."

In the kitchen, Tommy and Chuckie found the baby food jars abandoned on the floor, so Tommy scooped some up again. "Just as I suspended." He tasted it. "Mushed peas. "A couple jars of this stuff will put even the toughest baby to sleep."

"And Angelica's the only one that could've opened those jars." Chuckie gasped when he realized something. "Oh no! We left her alone with...!" In the playpen, they saw Lil fast asleep on one of the pillows. "... Lil. It's just the 3 of us now, Tommy."

"I don't think I can make it, Chuckie."

"But we have to, Tommy! For _them._ " He looked to the ball Angelica left on the desk. "Hey, wait a minute! Where _is_ Shenzi?"

Just then, the blonde girl was grunting as she dragged a sleeping Shenzi in the playpen by her feet. "What is her dad _feeding_ her?!" She rested the younger girl's head on a pillow, then let out a puff of breath. "Phew!"

"What did you do to her, Angelica?!" Chuckie glared.

"Nothin'! She was rocking back and forth, then just fell asleep!" She lied to him. "It's not my fault that rocking still works on her." She then headed upstairs to the nursery without another word to him. "Hmm, there must be something in here that puts babies to sleep." She then spotted the mobile on Dil's crib, and had another idea.

"I won't be long," Tommy promised Chuckie in a hushed tone, "I just wanna get my honky horn. That way, you can squeak it if I start to go to sleep. Here," He gave him an "Inventors Weekly" magazine, "Look at this while I'm gone." He headed for the stairs, as Angelica watched from behind a potted plant.

She walked up to Chuckie, her hands clasped behind her back. "Hi, Chuckie."

"Aah!" He screamed in surprise.

"What'cha doin'?"

"Oh! Uh, just uh, readin'... this book."

"That's nice. You know what I like to do when I'm reading a book?"

"No."

"I like to..." She deviously unveiled the mobile from behind her back, and started playing the music on it. "... Listen to music."

"Not... the _lullaby!_ " In the nursery, Tommy was reaching for his toy horn from the floor, when Chuckie's distressed yell stopped him. "Tommy!"

He rushed down, and saw him asleep with Angelica holding the mobile above his head. "Angelica! You did this!" He glared.

"So what if I helped him along a little?" She tossed the mobile away. "It's not my fault you're all just a bunch of sleepy babies. That is, except for you, Tommy."

"Well, you're not gonna put _me_ to sleep, Angelica."

"You're right, Tommy. I guess my little tricks won't work on you. Well, why don't we sit down together, and wait 'til naptime's over?"

"Um, that's okay. I'll just stand up."

" _Or_ we can just rest our heads on these pillows," She held one up for him.

"I'm fine."

Angelica tossed the pillow away. "Well, we can just cover ourselves with this blankie, so we can be nice and warm while we wait." She had pulled a pink blanket off of Spike, waking him up.

"Uh, blankie? I don't need a blankie."

Angelica grunted in frustration, then turned to Spike, who yawned sleepily. She then yawned after seeing him, and turned to Tommy after getting an idea. "Yeah Tommy, you won't be much longer now." She then let out a big fake yawn, so he unintentionally followed her lead. She kept going, until he spoke up.

"Um, maybe I'll just sit down on the floor."

Angelica let out another long yawn. "Yeah. Just for a minute."

Tommy laid his head on one of the pillows. "I'll just... rest my head a little."

Angelica followed his lead, and yawned again. "Doesn't mean... you'll fall asleep."

The 2 cousins struggled to keep their heavy eyelids open, then finally closed them. But when Tommy opened them again, Angelica had fallen asleep! "G'night, Angelica." He crawled away to retrieve the ball, and sat in the playpen with it. He pressed the button on the top, and was soothed to sleep by the carousel. As the kids slept, the ball finished playing on its own.

After the toddlers woke up, they watched the carousel spin around to the music. "Wow, Tommy!" Lil praised the bald baby. "How did you do it?"

"Well, I almost didn't make it, but I guess in the end, Angelica yawned just a little too big," He smiled with pride.

Stu and Didi walked in the room with Dil, and she set Dil at the ball, so he could watch it. "I dunno, Deed. I was gonna give that one to Angelica if she liked it, but it just put her to sleep," Stu lamented a little.

"Don't worry, honey. I'm sure she'll like the next one."

Angelica started sucking her thumb in her slumber, as the toddlers enjoyed the ball.

* * *

 **(A/N: Well, thus concludes this chapter! You know the disclaimer.)**


	25. Ch 24: Prom Queen

**(A/N: This chapter is based on the episode "Junior Prom". Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 24

* * *

At the Carmichael household, the toddlers plus Angelica and Susie Carmichael were hanging out in the living room while Didi and Lucy were preparing a dress for Susie's big sister, 15-year-old Alisa Carmichael, who was chatting on her cell phone. "So Tad asked me first, but then Casey asked me, so I just had to, y'know, be fair and flip a coin."

The family pet cat, Chowder, was sitting with the babies as they played with a red ball. Angelica and Susie were sitting a distance away, looking in one of Lucy and Randy's yearbooks. "Why is Alisa wearing her nighty gown in the daytime?" Lil wondered aloud, as she threw the ball to Phil.

"I dunno. Guess she forgot to get dressed."

"Alisa, honey, could you stand still?" Lucy requested.

"Mom! This is kinda important," Alisa went back to her call, "Sorry, back. And we're going in a _limo!_ Isn't that cool?"

Meanwhile, Susie was showing Angelica one of the photos in the album. One showed a teenage Lucy talking on her phone as her mother prepared her dress. "See? There's my mom, and there's my grand-mama." She then turned the page to some other photos.

"Wow! Nice party!"

"It wasn't a party; It was a prom. See? They drink punch, and eated, and danced under the shiny ball. And, Mommy and Daddy was the prom king and queen."

The last part caught Angelica's attention, but she was skeptical. "Prom queen? I never heard of a prom queen. I think you're making that up."

"I am not!" Susie glared. "Here's their picture to prove it!" She showed her a photo of Lucy and Randy in their teenage years, each sitting on a throne, and wearing crowns. "See? All the kids in their school voted for them to be king and queen."

"Whoa!" Angelica was intrigued at the idea of being chosen to be queen. She held onto the book as a smile grew on her face.

Meanwhile, Didi and Lucy were trying to pull the dress down on Alisa, but she was still on the phone. "And my dress is baby blue, to match the "harvesting the sea" theme." She stepped down from the stool and walked away.

"We had a bicentennial theme," Didi conversed with Lucy, "The boys were quite dashing in their 3-cornered hats and knickers."

"Alisa, watch the kids a minute, okay?" Lucy headed to the kitchen with Didi.

"Sure, Mom," She then went back to her conversation. "And I told him he can bring me any kind of flowers for my corsage." She headed out of the room. "As long as they're roses and baby's-breath."

"I betcha Alisa's gonna be the prom queen, 'cause she is really popular," Susie remarked to Angelica.

"Ezzactly! That's why when I'm grown up, I'm gonna be the prom queen!" Angelica bragged.

"Me too!"

" _You?_ I don't think so! I mean, no offense Susie, but nobody's gonna vote for you, on account of they're all gonna be voting for _me._ "

"But _I'm_ nice! They'd vote for me!"

"No they wouldn't!"

"They would so!" They looked to the toddlers sitting in a circle.

"Doggy, doggy!" Dil cooed at Chowder as he walked away.

"Well, why don't we just settle this right now, Susie?" Angelica stood up, and walked to the babies with Susie following. "Oh, hello, babies. Guess what you get to do? You babies are gonna vote for one of us to be queen. And you better think real hard about it first!"

"Angelica, that's not how it works," Susie informed her, "If we're gonna vote on who gets to be prom queen, we have to have a prom."

"Oh, alright. First, you boys have to pick a girl to go with you to the prom."

"Why do _we_ gotta ask?" Chuckie asked her. "It's _your_ idea."

"Just pick a girl, and ask her! Now!" She commanded.

"You wanna go to the prom?" Phil asked Lil.

"'Kay," She shrugged.

"Next!"

Chuckie turned to his best girl friend. "Um, uh Shenzi?" She looked at him. "Um, would you, wi-..."

"Sure Chuckie," She agreed with a giggle, "I'll go to the prom with you." He laid his hand over his heart with a bashful grin, and a slight blush on his cheeks.

The blonde turned to Tommy, and cleared her throat, gaining his attention. "Um, you wanna go to the prom, Angelica?"

"Mmm, let me think about it."

"Yucky! Yucky!" Dil waved to her.

"Wow! _Two_ boys wanna take me to the prom! I must be pretty popular! Hmmm, what should I do?"

"Well, if you don't wanna go, I guess I can take Reptar," Tommy grabbed onto his Reptar doll.

"I guess you're taking Dil, Angelica," Susie snickered.

"Forget it!" She refused. "He'll drool all over my dress! I'll go with Tommy!"

"But who'll go with Dil?" Tommy wondered aloud.

"Don't worry, Tommy; I'll go with him," Susie offered.

"That's great! Thanks, Susie!"

"Yeah, yeah, happy, happy. Now, get us some flowers!" Angelica commanded. "And they'd better be roses and baby's breath! Come on, Susie! We got work to do!" She headed outside with Susie, and the toddlers shrugged in confusion.

"And I wore a red, white and blue ruffle gown," Didi said to Lucy, "Some people said I was the spitting image of Betsy Ross."

Outside, the boys plus Lil were looking for flowers to give Angelica, Susie, and Shenzi, who were inside the house. Dil was sitting in the Reptar wagon. "Hey, there's a pretty one," Phil grabbed a snail, and held it to Lil, "You want this instead of flowers?" The snail stared at her with its blinking eyes.

"Okay," She agreed, and put the snail on her dress.

"You think these are roses, Tommy?" Chuckie asked him.

"Hmm, I dunno, Chuckie. There's no ring around them." They were actually purple clematis flowers. "But there's no other flowers here, so these gots to be roses. Let's pick 'em." They each pulled a flower out of the dirt. "Now, alls we need is baby's breath." Tommy and Chuckie exhaled onto the flowers for that.

"I sure hope Shenzi likes this flower," Chuckie remarked, "'Cause it's making me dizzy." He flopped on his back in the grass.

"F'ower, f'ower," Dil cooed and giggled, as Chuckie walked away after recovering.

"Okay Dilly, you can help," Tommy held his flower up in Dil's reach, but Dil sneezed on it, leaving only 3 petals covered in drool.

Just then, Angelica and Susie came walking out in the yard. "Sorry there wasn't a better dress for you, Shenzi," Susie glanced back, "Alisa's old witch dress was all I could find."

"It's fine!" Shenzi came following them in a black dress with draped sleeves that dragged on the ground. Her sneakers peeked out from under the skirt. She had sneaked into the master bedroom, and stole Randy's bow tie from his wedding suit, wearing it like a necklace.

Susie came up to Lil, holding an orange dress with yellow polka dots. "Here, Lil. This can be your prom dress."

"Ooh, prettyful!" Lil spun around while holding the straps.

"Oh, Tommy!" Angelica gushed. "You got me a limbo!" She walked up to the Reptar Wagon, where Tommy was standing in the grass. "You shouldn't have!"

"Shouldn't have what?" He shrugged in confusion. Angelica put a checkerboard-printed newsboy cap on Dil's head as he cooed, and it covered his face.

"Here Chuckie," Susie walked up to him, holding a black bow tie, with Shenzi following, "This is my daddy's."

Chuckie took it, then after trying to figure out how to wear it, he put it on his head like a headband. "Uh, Chuckie?" Phil turned to him. "I think it's upside down." He turned it around, then was satisfied.

"You boys can get dressed later. It's time to vote for prom queen!"

"No, Angelica!" Susie protested. "First we have to decorate the yard, and take our prom pictures!"

Tommy dumped some hats and scarves out of one bag, as Angelica grabbed a jar of glitter, then shook it everywhere she could reach from the picnic table. "Okay, I decorated. Let's take the pictures." She jumped down on the ground. "Wait! Where's my flowers? A queen's s'posed to have flowers!"

Tommy, who now wore a striped necktie and a fedora hat, reached into his diaper, and took out the flower. "I got you roses, and baby's breath. Um, and Dil breathed on it too." He gave it to her.

Angelica noticed the drool on it, and tossed it behind her back. "Yuck!"

Chuckie came to his "date" with a flower, his shy stammering catching her attention. He now had a pink scarf with blue flowers around his waist. "Here's your flower, Shenzi."

"Thank you, Chuckie." She admired it as he blushed bashfully.

Angelica grabbed a toy camera, and walked up to Phil, who wore a red baseball cap and a pink bead necklace. "Alright Phil, take my picture, and it better be good!" She gave him the camera. "I wanna 'member this day 'til I'm 5." As she posed, Phil snapped pictures and they fell out of a slot in the camera, although she was in none of them. "Oh, Phil! What kind of stinky, picture taker are you? I'm not in any of these pictures!"

Lil picked up one of the pictures off the ground. "There's a teeny weeny eeny bit of you, Angelica." She gave it to the older girl.

"Oh, gimme that!" She snatched it away, and had a look. There was just one of her pigtails in the picture. "Yep, that's me. Okay, let's go to the prom and get this whole thing over with."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Shenzi came up to her. "Me and Chuckie don't gots nothing to 'member this day."

"Hmm," Angelica picked something up from the sidewalk, "Here."

Shenzi skeptically took it. "A _leaf?_ " She frowned in disappointment, dropping the leaf on the ground.

As Angelica walked away pridefully, Chuckie came up to his "date", and twiddle his foot on the ground timidly. "Uh, I'll 'member this day anyhow, Shenzi." A shy blush and smile grew on her face.

Phil grabbed a picture he took of Lil's snail, and held it out to her. "You want this for a prom picture?"

"Okay," She shrugged and accepted it. She now had a blue belt around her stomach.

The group headed for the wagon, as Angelica made it first. "Time for my limbo ride," She announced to Dil. She went to climb in, but Tommy caught her attention.

"Angelica, why don't we just walk to the prom?" He suggested. "It's right over there." He pointed to the picnic table.

"We was just there, anyhow," Shenzi added.

Angelica was quiet for a moment, but then protested. " _Walk?_ Queens don't walk."

"You're not queen yet, Angelica," Susie hopped in the wagon, "I might be the queen, y'know."

"Me too!" Shenzi hopped in next to her, as Angelica climbed in the front with Dil.

"Move over!" She tried to make herself comfortable in the seat. Tommy and Chuckie shrugged, then went to board the wagon. "Uh-uh-uh!" Angelica stopped them. "You two push."

"What about me and Lil?" Phil walked up to them with his twin sister.

But at this time, the wagon started moving. "Who am I, the fairy bobmother? Get your own limbo!"

He turned to her. "Wanna walk to the prom?"

"'Kay," She shrugged, and they walked back to the picnic table.

Meanwhile, Chuckie and Tommy were pushing the wagon up a hill, until they stopped at the peak. Angelica jumped out, then started singing for her entrance. " _ **Here comes the queen! Dum dum du-dum!**_ "

"Yeah, here she comes!" Susie ran after her.

"M-me too!" Shenzi followed them, and they stopped at the table, where the twins were eating cookies.

Angelica turned to Susie when she saw her glaring. "Oh, Susie! If you really wanna know how more popular I am than you and Tuck, we'll vote." Shenzi glared at her surname mention. Angelica grabbed Tommy's arm, and pulled him over. "Okay Tommy, time to vote, and it'd better be for me!"

"Um, I guess you can be queen if you wanna be."

"That's one for me," She gloated to Susie and Shenzi, "And now, I get to vote." Phil and Lil watched silently from the table. "Hmm... I vote for- me! That's 6 for me." She then turned to the redhead. "Chuckie?"

"Uh, are you sure you wanna be queen, Angelica?" He hesitated. "Queens have to sit on a throne all day, 'til their bottoms are sore, and they..."

"Just vote, Finster!" She cut him off.

"I think the queen should be...!" He looked back and forth at the 3 girls, Angelica glaring, Susie smiling, and Shenzi looking hopeful. Dil was playing with the steering wheel, when he accidentally turned the brake off. Chuckie was about to make his decision, when he saw the wagon heading right for Angelica! He gasped in shock, and spoke up. "Angelica!" He screamed in warning.

But the girls had the wrong idea. "Hear that?" She turned to the disappointed girls. "Even your _date_ voted for me, Tuck." Shenzi slumped in disappointment.

"No, no! I mean Angelica, look out!" He pointed behind their backs, and they saw the wagon treading through the flowers.

"Hey Dil, watch out!" Angelica tried to stop him, but he played with the horn as he kept going. She jumped out of the way after Tommy, Chuckie and the girls ran away, but she ended up spilling the bowl of grape juice on all of them. They all except her started laughing with one another. The twins were still watching, as Dil finally stopped at the table. "Yuck! I got punch all over my sparkly, haren dress! Queens have to be clean!"

"Well, I'm all dirty too," Susie pointed out.

"Me too," Shenzi added.

"So how about we just forget about being queen?" Susie suggested humbly.

Naturally, Angelica refused. "Oh, you just wait! We're gonna have another prom at my house, and _then_ we'll see who gets to be queen!" She stomped away in anger.

Shenzi then turned to her "date". "Come on, Chuckie! Let's dance!" She walked in the grass with him, hand-in-hand, as Tommy took Dil's hat off, and gave him a cookie.

"Lillian, you wanna be the prom queen?" Phil asked her with his mouth full.

"Okay," She agreed, and went back to eating, "You wanna be the king?"

"'Kay, Your Majesty," He put a paper cup on her head for a crown, and they shared a laugh.

"Your Majesty!" She giggled.

Angelica watched scornfully from another part of the yard with the picture of her pigtail. "Yeah, I'm gonna be prom queen next year, and next year, and the nextest year after that," She vowed.

"Hey uh, Shenzi?" Chuckie timidly addressed her, as Susie started dancing with Dil.

"Uh huh?"

"If the wagon hadn't rolled up to us... I would've chosen you."

"Really?" Her cheeks blushed.

"Yeah. I think you're the bestest choice for prom queen."

"Thanks, Chuckie!" She suddenly hugged him, and planted a kiss on his cheek, making his face flush red, almost matching his hair.

* * *

 **(A/N: Well, there you have it! Sorry if it wasn't very exciting. You know the disclaimer.)**


	26. Ch 25: The Big Sick

**(A/N: I actually wrote my take on this episode with my old Rugrats parody, so I guess I cheated on this one. XD It's based on the episode "All's Well That Pretends Well". Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be**

Ch. 25 

* * *

At the Pickles house, the kids were getting ready to attend the Cirque du Dummi Bears circus with their families. "Ooh! Ah! Wow! Ooh!" The toddlers were admiring a flyer for the show. But then Dil bit down on the page with a Dummi Bears car, leaving it covered in drool.

"I think that's what Dil wants," Lil remarked.

"Ugh! He can have it now," Phil glared in disgust.

"Are you kids excited about going to see the Cirque du Dummi Bear?" Didi asked them, "Why, I can't remember the last time I saw a French-Canadian interpretation of the Dummi Bear show; Maybe never." The doorbell suddenly rang, so she went to answer it; it was Drew, Charlotte, and Angelica.

"Sorry we're late, Didi," Drew apologized as they walked in, "We think our cat's sick."

"We kept hearing these horrible sneezing sounds all day," Charlotte added with concern.

"It was Fluffy!" Angelica fibbed.

"I know, pumpkin; That's what you said," Drew patted his daughter's head, and she smiled innocently.

"Why don't you come into the kitchen? Stu is hosting a pre-show Dummi Bears discussion group." Didi led the two adults into the kitchen, where the rest of the parents were gathered.

Meanwhile, Angelica sniffled sickly as she hid behind the recliner, and upon hearing the babies' excitement, she walked in the playpen, where they were admiring the flyer again. "Gimme that!" She snatched the flyer away, and had a look for herself. "I don't believe it; There's Dummi Bear stuff that I don't got! Oh, I just _gotta_ go to this circus thing!" She then sniffled again.

"Are you sick, Angelica?" Shenzi asked her.

"No!" The three-year-old claimed, but she accidentally let out a loud sneeze.

"Goodness! What was that?" Didi walked in the living room.

"It was uh, Dil, Aunt Didi!" Angelica claimed.

"Oh dear," Didi picked up her youngest son, "I hope you're not sick, sweetums; I wouldn't want you to miss the show." She headed back in the kitchen. "Stu! Has Dil been sneezing?"

"That wasn't very nice, Angelica!" Tommy glared. "Dil's not sick; _You_ are!"

"No, I'm not! Because if I was, I couldn't go to the circus of Dummi Bears! I've been waiting a month for that; It's gonna be the greatest show ever!"

"Even better than Reptar on Ice?" Phil asked her.

"A _bazillion_ times better!" Angelica tossed the flyer on Shenzi's face at "bazillion" when she threw her arm out for emphasis. "Music, lights, dancin', trapezeis artists! You babies wouldn't want me to be the onliest girl in the world to grow up without seein' a show _that_ good, would ya?" She asked them, with sadness in her tone.

The babies stayed silent with guilt, before Tommy made their decision. "Well um, I guess not," He reluctantly decided, "But just don't say Dil's sick no more, Angelica, 'cause he wants to go too!"

"Okay, okay!" She agreed, before her aunt and uncle walked back in with the four-month-old boy.

"I don't know, there is something going around," Didi remarked.

"He's fine, Deed," Stu assured her, "It must've just been a really horrible burp."

"Well alright," Didi set Dil on his pillow in the playpen, "But we'll have to watch them all closely for signs of anything unusual. We can't bring a sick child to Cirque du Dummi Bear; It could create a national epidemic." Tommy giggled at Dil, as Angelica felt nervous.

"Uh oh, Cynthia; If Aunt Didi and Uncle Stu find out I'm sick, they'll never take me to the show!" She whispered to her doll. "I've just _gotta_ see it! I'll just have to make sure those babies look like the sick ones, not me!" After a second, she headed for the kitchen, with a plan developing in her mind.

"I hope this show's not in French," Betty remarked in the kitchen, "My parle vœu's a little rusty."

"Oh, don't worry, Betty," Chaz assured her, "The Dummi Bears speak an international language: Love."

"Aunt Didi, is it okay if I help you watch the babies?" Angelica requested, "You know, in case one of them is sick."

"Oh, that's very thoughtful of you, Angelica," Didi smiled, as she laid her hands on her niece's shoulder and head in a small hug.

"I know!" She grinned innocently. "So, what kind of stuff should I be watchin' 'em for, ezactly?"

"Well, let's see," Didi took out her "Lipschitz Illustrated Encyclopedia of Infant Ailments" book, and turned a few pages. "The main symptoms of the virus that's going around are: Pale and blotchy skin, shivering if they have a fever, and of course, a runny nose or sneezing."

Speaking of which, Angelica felt a sneeze coming on, and she panicked. "Uah, uah, okay, thanks! Bye!" She dashed out in the hallway hurriedly. "Uah, uah, uahuahuahaaa-!" She then sneezed, but muffled it with Spike's back. After he ran off, she sprinted in the bathroom, and grabbed a bottle of baby powder, and her aunt's lipstick, chuckling evilly. "Get ready, everybody! We're about to have an epidermis on our hands!" She dashed out in the living room, and up to the playpen. "Hey babies! The grownups said that since we was going to the circus, you babies can dress up like circus clowns!"

"Yay!" Phil and Lil cheered.

"That's a great idea!" Tommy smiled.

"Not for me, thank you!" Chuckie held his hands out in protest, "Clowns are scary."

"I'm out too," Shenzi agreed.

"I think Phil would make the bestest clown," Angelica decided, "He's kinda funny-lookin' already." He made a funny smile to prove her point.

"Hey! I'm funny-lookin' too!" Lil exclaimed.

"Not as funny-lookin' as me!" Phil argued.

"Funnier!" Lil gasped in offense.

"Alright, alright, you're both funny-lookin'," Angelica rolled her eyes at them, "Now get over here!" After they sprinted over, she covered their faces in baby powder, so they looked paler, and used the lipstick to poke dots all over their faces. "Perfect!"

"Um, I think you made their polky-dots too small, Angelica," Tommy pointed out, "They look like clowns that gots the chicken pops."

"Nah, that's the way all circus clowns are wearing their dots these days," Angelica claimed.

"Can Dil and I be clowns next?" He requested, as Phil made a goofy face at a giggling Dil.

"Uh, sure Tommy; Good idea," The three-year-old smiled, before she sneezed again.

"Kids! Are you okay?" Didi came in the kitchen, and let out a yell of surprise when she saw the twins. "Ear light, nose light, throat light," She looked through her "Lipschitz Home Physician's kit" after setting the twins on the table for a checkup. "Oh, where is that electronic thermometer?"

"I've never seen anything like it," Chaz remarked to Howard, "It must be tropical."

"Here it is," Didi took the thermometer out, and used it on Phil's left ear, as Lil covered both of hers in fear. "These digital models are very accurate, you know." She drew it away, and looked at the result. "Negative 55.67?!"

"Nah, forget all that high-tech stuff, Deed," Betty piped up, "Alls you need is a mother's hand, to tell if the pups got a fever." Angelica felt nervous at her words, as Betty rolled up her sweater's sleeves. "'Scusez-moi." She set her hands on the twins' foreheads, but immediately drew back at the unusual feeling, and saw the substances on her palms and fingers. "What the-? This is baby powder! And lipstick for crying out loud!"

"Uh oh," The three-year-old muttered to herself.

"Oh, you pups!" Betty chuckled in amusement, as she wiped their faces clean.

"Well Cynthia, pale and blotchy didn't work," She whispered to her doll, "Let's try makin' those babies cold and shivery." She sneakily grabbed a carton of vanilla ice cream from the counter, and sprinted to the living room.

"They must've been playing dress-up," Betty guessed, as she set Phil and Lil back in the playpen. "Y'know, Howie did a lot of that when he was a pup." At that, she and Didi walked back in the kitchen.

"Hey, you guys aren't clowns no more!" Shenzi observed.

"The grownups thought we was _sick_ clowns," Phil explained.

"Yeah, they didn't think it was very funny," Lil added.

"Hello, babies!" Angelica walked back in the playpen with her hands behind her back.

"You tricked us, Angelica!" Tommy put his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, you made it look like Lillian and me was sick!" Phil glared.

"We might not have got to go to the Dummi Bear circus thingy!" Lil added.

"It's true; It's all true," Angelica admitted with fake guilt in her voice, "And I'm sorry. I just hope you babies can find it in your hearts to forgive me."

"No, Angelica!" Tommy refused, "We forgived you one time, and then you did the same thing again!"

"I'll give you ice cream," She revealed the carton to the toddlers, and they were sold immediately.

"I forgive you, Angelica!" Lil smiled.

"Me too," Phil chimed in.

"Well, I guess if you're really sorry," Chuckie added, as he and the twins reached for the carton. "I love ice cream!" Shenzi eagerly reached for the carton, not knowing that ice cream has milk in it.

"Hold on, you guys!" Tommy stopped them, "What if this is just another trick?"

Phil cleared his throat. "Tommy, what could be wrong with _ice cream?_ " He raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I guess you're right," He decided.

"Right," The brunette boy nodded, before the toddlers dug in.

After a while, they almost completely emptied the carton. "Nice job, babies," Angelica grinned, as she picked up the carton, "Guess that ice cream was pretty cold though, huh?" Her question was answered, as all the toddlers were shivering, with ice cream on their faces. She then rushed in the kitchen, faking hastiness. "Aunt Didi, the babies is sick!" She exclaimed; The adults rushed in the living room, and grabbed their respective children. "They're lookin' pretty shivery, huh?"

"Oh dear; They've got the chills, and," Didi noticed the substance around her sons' mouths. "Eww, and their noses have been running."

The adults took the kids in the kitchen for a checkup. Didi looked at her "Pickles Family Health Chart" and found no problems, to her confusion. "I can't find anything wrong with them," She remarked, before she sniffed around Dil's face. "They even smell good."

"Hmm…" Betty took a sample from Lil's face, and tasted it.

"Betty!" Didi exclaimed in shock.

"Ohoho! Just like I figured!" Betty chuckled, "Vanilla! The kids got into the ice cream! They're fine! Let's bring these pups back in the living room." The adults walked back in the living room, and put the kids back in the playpen.

"I'm surprised that Shenzi doesn't have a stomachache," Friar Tuck remarked about his daughter.

"Hmm…" Angelica tried to think of a new plan, before she looked at Didi's book. "Let's see; Pale and blotchy, chilly, and… sneezin'! Hmm, now let's see…" She looked around the kitchen, before she found what she was looking for. "The fezer duster!" She ran up to the feather duster and grabbed it, a new plan coming together in her head. She sneaked back in the living room, and hid in front of the recliner, where the toddlers couldn't see her. "One touch of this, and Tuck will be sneezin' 'til she's a grownup!" She whispered to herself. Just then, the ball they were playing with rolled up to the recliner, and Shenzi stood up to retrieve it. "Oh, this is too good to be true!" Just as she came close enough, the three-year-old made her move; She thrust the feather duster in the long-haired girl's face.

"Mmph! Hey!" Shenzi's exclaims were muffled, before she pushed the duster away. When the dust now on her face started taking effect, her large eyes crossed and narrowed, before she let out a loud sneeze, followed by another, and another.

"Shenzi! Are you okay?" Chuckie asked her from the playpen, but she couldn't respond.

Angelica quickly rushed in the kitchen, putting another worried face on. "Aunt Didi! One of the babies won't stop sneezing!"

"Which one?" Didi asked her, as she hastily stood up.

"Um, it-it's uh…" Angelica feigned deep thought to stall time, "Th-the one with the long hair!"

At the last words, Friar Tuck hurriedly stood up, and rushed in the living room with Didi and her niece following. By the recliner, they found the two-year-old still sneezing. "Shenzi!" The child whipped around at hearing her daddy's voice, trying to hold in yet another sneeze, but it burst out. He hastily picked her up, as she continued sneezing. "I hope you're not catching anything, sweetheart; I'd hate for you to miss the show."

"Let's bring her in the kitchen to give her a quick checkup," Didi suggested, as they walked in the said room. The badger set his daughter on the table as she sneezed yet again, tears coming in her eyes from the excessive sneezing. "Wait a minute; What's that on her face?" Didi wondered aloud, "It looks furry." Angelica's nervous feeling grew back at her aunt's words.

"Hmm," Friar Tuck looked closely at his daughter's face, as she tried to hold in yet another sneeze.

"It looks like dust," Betty pointed out. Shenzi squirmed a bit when her daddy gently took a sample of the "furry stuff" off her cheek, as she still held in her sneeze with struggle.

"It _is_ dust," He concluded.

"But how could she have…" As Shenzi let out the sneeze she was holding in, Didi looked, and saw that the duster wasn't in its original spot. "Wait; Where's the feather duster?"

"Ohhh," Betty drew out, as the child let out another sneeze, but it was smaller. "She must've been messin' around with the feather duster when we wasn't lookin'; She's fine!" She concluded, as Friar Tuck gently wiped the dust off his daughter's face.

Spike had seen and heard the whole thing, and frankly, he was disgusted that Angelica was getting away with misbehaving yet again.

"Let's get you back to your friends," Friar Tuck smiled at his daughter, as he lifted her up off the table, and walked in the living room. On the way, Shenzi almost sneezed again, but she firmly covered her mouth and nose, and sighed in relief when the feeling went away. Maxie and the twins looked up in surprise when Shenzi was set on her feet in the playpen, facing away. "There you go, cutie; You stay away from the feather duster, okay?" She giggled when he ruffled her hair, before he walked back in the kitchen.

When Spike saw Angelica with the duster, he ran up to her, and carefully snatched it out of her hand with his mouth. He waved the duster around, so dust flew everywhere in the area, including at Santana's face, so she started sneezing excessively. After the dust cleared up, she started sniffling again, before she saw Didi, Betty, and Friar Tuck looking down at her; Their expressions and body language told her that she was busted.

In the kitchen, Drew checked her temperature with a thermometer in her mouth, before he took it out carefully. "Well, this one seems to be working; 101," He concluded to Didi, who held the electronic thermometer. "I'm afraid you can't go to the show, princess; You're sick."

"No!" Angelica weakly protested.

"I know you're disappointed, sweetie," Charlotte said with sympathy, "I'll tell you what; We'll stay here until everyone comes home, and we can hear all about it, okay?" Angelica just groaned with despair.

Later that day, all the families except Angelica's gathered in the Pickles' van, and drove off. Just before leaving, Tommy saw Angelica crying with depression, and guilt filled his heart. Later, Angelica was sitting on the couch, with a blanket over her lap, and up to her shoulders, still feeling upset.

"How about a Dummi Bears video, sweetheart?" Drew sat next to her, with some video tapes in his hands, "That should cheer you up. Let's see; Dummi Bear Christmas? Dummi Bear Hanukah? Dummi Bear Arbor Day?"

"I don't wanna see the stupid ol' Dummi Bears," Angelica shook her head with a grumpy tone of voice, "Who cares about 'em, anyway?" She crossed her arms.

"Okay, princess; I'll check up on you in a little while." Drew kissed her temple before standing up, and walking out of the room. Angelica looked at the Cirque du Dummi Bear flyer sadly; She looked up upon hearing the door opening, and multitudes of coughs and sneezes.

"We're back!" Stu called out.

"What happened? You were only gone half an hour," Charlotte asked them.

"As soon as we got to the arena, the kids all started sneezing, and coughing," Didi explained, as all the kids except Dil were doing just that. "It was the strangest thing!"

"They apparently came down with what Angelica has," Friar Tuck added.

"We'd better consult Lipschitz," Didi lead the adults in the kitchen, as the kids walked in the living room and up to the couch, their sneezing and coughing suddenly ceasing.

"Hey, what's goin' on? You babies aren't sick," Angelica pointed out.

"Well, we just couldn't have any fun at the circus, knowin' you was missin' it," Tommy explained.

"You couldn't?"

"No," Lil answered, "So we pretended to be sick, so we can come home, and keep you company."

"You did?" Angelica smiled.

"It was kinda scary there, anyway," Chuckie chimed in, and Shenzi nodded in agreement, "So I didn't have to pretend to shiver."

Santana jumped down on the floor, still smiling. "You babies did that for… for… for me?" They all nodded, and moved in for a hug, which lingered for a second or two. "Hey, what're you dumb babies doin'? You don't wanna get sick, do ya?" She gently pushed them away, but they all just started laughing with her.

"Anyway, before we left, I went over to the gift stand to buy a few souvenirs, and look what they had!" Stu took a video tape out of the bag he carried. "The entire show on video tape!"

"Not to mention laser disc, DVD, HDTV, CD ROM, Beta, 8-track…" Chaz started listing off the other options.

"You hear that, princess?" Drew smiled at his daughter, "You're going to see the Cirque du Dummi Bear after all!"

"I am?" Angelica smiled with joy.

Stu put the tape in the VCR, and turned to the group. "Gather 'round, everybody; It's starting!" He ran to the couch, as the show began.

" _ **Sing the Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Song!**_ " The theme song played, before the adults and Santana started singing along to it. The toddlers simply swayed to the tune with happy smiles. " _ **Sing the Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Song! Sing the Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Song!**_ " " _ **Sing the Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy-!**_ " Angelica was cut off by another sneeze.

* * *

 **(A/N: Well, there you go. XD You know the disclaimer. Shenzi getting attacked by the feather duster was actually an alternate scene I wrote for my parody take on the episode, so I decided to include it in here. I couldn't think of a substitute for Chuckie.)**


	27. Ch 26: Dil's Initiation

**(A/N: I'm really sorry this took so long! I was working on fan-material for Blue Sky Studios' Epic all this time. The author's note at the bottom contains very important information. Anyway, this chapter is based on "Big Babies". Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Could It Be?**

Ch. 26

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Outside at Tommy's house, the dads were preparing for a game of badminton, while the kids were throwing the birdie around in a game of catch at the patio. After catching the birdie from Lil, Phil threw it to Chuckie, who playfully covered his eyes, before grabbing it, and throwing it to Shenzi. The black-haired girl giggled when it hit her tummy, and she picked it up, then threw it to Tommy, but it landed on the pavement.

"Ba! Ba!" Dil cooed and reached down when Tommy picked it up from the patio. Dil was in a light yellowish-green striped t-shirt and a diaper for the nice, warm day.

"Okay Dilly, you can throw it this time," Tommy gave him the birdie, but he just waved it around, so his wheeled seat moved away. "No, Dil; You gots to let go."

"Ah, he's not big enough to play this game yet," Phil pointed out.

"Yeah, this is for _big_ babies," Lil agreed.

"When is he going to be a big baby anyway?" Tommy wondered aloud as Dil was moving the birdie around playfully.

"I dunno; I guess when he's done being a little one," Chuckie shrugged.

Suddenly, Dil threw the birdie up in the air, and it landed on Lou's nose, as he walked outside. "Ow!" He exclaimed, as he caught the birdie, "Con flabbit! You can put an eye out with this thing!" He tossed it in his son's hand.

"Another Wombat meeting, Pop?" Stu's eyelids lowered at his father's uniform, as he dropped the birdie on the pavement.

"Today's Initiation Day," He explained, "Bad news is: That darn fool Tony McNulty is trying to join up." He chuckled mischievously, before continuing. "Good news is, we get to put him through our _secret_ Wombat initiation."

"Uh, what exactly is your initiation?" Stu asked him, his tone lacking any interest.

"I can't tell you that; It's a secret!" Lou insisted, "But I will tell you, by the time we put ol' McNulty through a few of our tests, we'll know if he's ready to play with the big boys." He patted Tommy's head and walked back inside, chuckling evilly.

"Hey, guys!" Tommy called out to his friends, as they gathered around, "I think I know how we can make Dil into a big baby; We give him an itchy-nation!"

"… What's an itchy-nation?" Shenzi asked him after a second of her thinking about it.

"Well, it's a-posed to be a secret," Tommy quietly told them, "But I think it's what you have to go through, to show you're ready to play with the big boys." His last word caught Shenzi and Lil's attention, as they raised his eyebrows. "Uh, or girls, I guess," Tommy corrected himself.

"Uh Tommy, how come _I_ never got an itchy-nation?" Chuckie wondered aloud.

"Yeah, me neither," Phil piped up.

"Neither did I!" Lil chimed in.

"I did not," Shenzi added with a head shake.

"Well, we all must have had one, guys," Tommy pointed out, "We're big babies, right? We probably just don't remember, 'cause we was little."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Phil decided, as Howard ran behind them.

"Uh, but-but Tommy, since none of us can 'member our itchy-nation, how are we gonna know what to do for Dil's?" Chuckie asked, and referred to the younger baby.

"Well, I guess we'll have to make it up ourselves," Tommy decided, "But first thing's first, we better go to our secret hiding place, so the grown-ups won't hear us talking about it." They looked at the fathers, as they were playing badminton, before the babies headed for a big bush. "We'll be back soon, Dilly! You stay here, and get ready, okay?" Dil responded with giggles, as they walked away.

In a surprisingly short amount of time, the adults were getting tired from their badminton game. "Fore!" Howard exclaimed when the birdie bounced off his racket, and landed in Dil's waiting hands.

"Not as quick as you used to be on the court, huh Howard?" Chaz taunted him.

"You're sadly mistaken, Charles!" Howard caught his breath, "I have the energy of a man _half_ my age!"

Stu walked up to Dil, who still held the birdie in his tiny hands. "Okay Dilster," He tried to grab it, but the baby wheeled away in his seat. "Give Daddy the birdie!" He tried to catch him, but his 4-month-old son was too fast on his seat. "Dil! Dil!"

Howard, Chaz, and Friar Tuck couldn't help but laugh at the scene. "Can't even keep up with his own kid!" Howard exclaimed.

"I, you know I'm as… fit as I ever…!" Stu panted, before the baby started wheeling around again. "Dil, would you hold still, already?" He finally gave up, as he flopped on the ground, still panting. "I bet you three… couldn't keep up with your kids either."

"Is that so?" Howard smirked, "Well, I'll bet a sausage pizza, I can keep up with _both_ of mine, better than you can keep up with Tommy!" Chaz and Friar Tuck laughed at his words. "And that goes double for _you_ two!"

"Oh _yeah?_ " Chaz challenged.

"Or are you boys _chicken?_ " Howard proceeded to taunt them with a chicken imitation. "Bo-o-ok bokbokbokbokbok chicken! Bok chicken! Bokbokbokbok!"

"It's a bet!" They all decided.

Meanwhile, the babies gathered in under the bush, which they decided to be their hiding place. "Well, our hideout is nice and secret," Phil remarked.

"But, it's not very-ow! Comferble!" Lil griped.

"Okay Tommy, what're we gonna do for Dil's itchy-nation?" Chuckie asked him.

"Well, I guess we're a-pposed to test him," Tommy guessed, "And see if he can do the stuff us big babies do."

"Well, I can blow all the fuzzies off of a dampy-lion!" Chuckie smiled.

"And I can eat a whole worm by myselfs," Lil added.

"And I can fill up my whole diapie with mud!" Phil grinned.

"I can um, I can put my own shirt on," Shenzi chimed in. She was in a black tuxedo t-shirt, a black jersey circle skirt, her purple bow, and studded sandals with black bows.

"What can you do, Tommy?" Chuckie asked him.

"A somersault… with my eyes closed!" Tommy replied, and they all gasped in surprise.

"I dunno if even _I_ can do that," Chuckie frowned nervously, and Shenzi nodded in agreement.

"Well, maybe Dil won't have to do that one, if he can do the other stuff," Tommy thought aloud, "Come on, guys; Let's get started!" He crawled out of their hiding spot, leading his friends out.

"Okay, let's get this straight," Stu announced, as he and the other three adults were preparing for their bet, "Each dad has to do whatever his kid is doing!"

"Exactly; No… cutting… corners!" Chaz bent down to touch his toes.

Howard was kicking his legs up, but when he kicked his left, he slightly pulled a muscle. "Ooh! Ah! Ah!" He exclaimed in pain, "Charley Horse! Wait; Time out!" He tried to walk it off. "Ah! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!"

"Let the games begin!" Stu announced.

"Okay guys," Tommy began, "Dil's firstest test is blowing on a dampy-lion!"

Chuckie gazed around, then found one in the grass. "Tommy! I think I gots one!" He plucked it, and gave it to Tommy.

"Okay, they're picking dandelions," Stu observed them, "Nothing hard about that."

"There's one!" Friar Tuck exclaimed, then leapt to it, with Howard following him.

"Hey, I saw it first!" He claimed.

"Did not!" The badger argued, as they tried to prevent each other from grabbing the dandelion.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did _too!_ "

"For heaven's sake, will you two behave like adults?" Stu berated them, but they were distracted, he quickly plucked the dandelion. "Hehehehaha! You snooze, you lose!" He started to walk away proudly, but he was tackled by the other three adults. "Haha, let's try a Full Nelson!"

Just then, the kids start noticing their strange behavior. "Gee, our daddies are acting kinda funny today," Shenzi remarked to Chuckie.

Phil looked, and saw Howard crawling and cooing like they would. "Not mine."

The kids decided to give Dil his test, so they walked up to him. "Okay Dil," Tommy said to his brother, "If you're gonna be a big baby, you gots to blow all the fuzzies off this dampy-lion." Dil sniffed at the flower, but he let out a sneeze, so the fuzz blew off.

"Um, uh, do sneezes count, Tommy?" Chuckie asked him.

"He blowed all the fuzzies off," Lil pointed out.

"Yeah, but I think was a accident," Phil remarked.

"Ummm, well, not sure if that counts," Tommy decided, "Maybe we better try the nextest test." The kids started digging in the ground, searching for a worm for the next test. "Alls we need is one good worm," Tommy told them all.

"Hey, here's a nice, big, juicy one!" Phil pulled one out of the dirt.

Just then, Shenzi noticed something; The adults were still repeating their actions! "Guys, how come our dads keep doin' what we're doin'?"

"What do you mean, Shenzi?" Chuckie asked her.

"Well, afore we were picking dampy-lions, they started picking dampy-lions too," She pointed out, and the babies saw she was right.

"Oh no! I think they're trying to make us think _they're_ babies, soes they'll find out about our secret itchy-nation!" Tommy concluded.

"Well, that's just great!" Chuckie exclaimed angrily. "We finally get a secret of our own, and _right away,_ they're tryin' to find out what it is!"

"Come on, you guys; Let's finish whiles they're not lookin'." The kids walked back over to Dil. "Okay, Dilly; Eat the nummy wormy!" Dil started cooing, as he reached up to his big brother's hand.

It was just then, Stu noticed that the kids had disappeared. "Hey, where'd they go? They were just…" He stopped when he saw Tommy holding the worm above Dil's open mouth, and gasped in horror. "Tommy, no!" The bald baby dropped the worm, but his daddy caught it just before it could land in Dil's mouth, and dropped it in the grass. "I'm sorry, kids; Dil's going to go play on the patio for a little while." He picked him up, and brought him to the patio.

"Uh oh; How's Dil going to get to be a big baby now?" Lil wondered aloud.

"… I got an idea," Tommy told his friends after a second, "Our daddies are doing everything we're doing, right? Well…" They gathered around, and he quietly discussed his plan, as the adults repeated their actions, after Stu put Dil back in the Reptar Wagon. After their discussion was done, the kids scattered, and the adults followed their respective children.

Phil and Lil started crawling in and out of the bushes, and Howard followed suit, quickly getting wiped out. "Lucky it's not Mom," Phil remarked as they ran out of the bushes, "We'd never wear her out!" Tommy crawled in the bushes closer to the house, with Stu following, before he started running around in the yard. Chuckie ran up to and circled around to a tree, then ran away, as Chaz followed him. Shenzi jumped on and off the patio stone fence with ease, with Friar Tuck clumsily following.

Tommy carefully stepped over one of the swings, with Stu clumsily following his movements. Phil and Lil ran under the picnic table, and Howard struggled to follow their actions. After they jumped off a lawn chair like it was a trampoline, he stepped on it, but it broke under his weight and folded up, effectively trapping him as he fell forward. Tommy quickly climbed up the slide ladder, and slid down; When Stu tried to repeat his actions, the slide toppled over. Shenzi ran to the swingset, and shoved the swings out of her way, letting them fly back and forth, and Friar Tuck ended up tangled. Chuckie stopped to catch his breath, then crawled in the doghouse; Chaz followed him in, but ended up stuck, as Chuckie escaped through the window.

"Good work, you guys!" Tommy praised them all. "Okay, well the dampy-lion and the wormy didn't work out so good. So, I guess its time to try the mud."

"No problem! I gots a good puddle goin' right over there!" Phil grabbed a bucket, and filled it with mud, then carefully walked back to the patio.

"Hurry, Philip!" Lil ordered.

"I'm hurryin', Lillian!"

"Now, let's see what Dil does with the mud," Tommy said as Dil played with the wagon's steering wheel. Phil ended up tripping on his own feet, so the bucket flew out of his hands, and in the wagon, so Dil was covered. "Well, his diapie's all full of mud now."

"Yeah, but he didn't do it hisself, _Philip,_ " Lil eyed her brother.

"Let's see if he can put his shirt on without help," Shenzi suggested.

"Okay!" Tommy grabbed Dil's shirt, which had a bit of mud on it, pulled it off over his head carefully, and gave it to him. "Alright Dil, time to get dressed." But Dil just held onto it with both hands, and looked at it with curiosity.

"Dil, do it like this!" Shenzi took off her own shirt, then pulled it back on. "See? Do it like that!" Dil tried to copy her movements, but had his shirt upside down. "Um, n-never mind." She put it back on him.

"Well, then I guess its time to give him the somersault test," Tommy regrettably decided, and his friends gasped.

"We'd better do it fast," Lil remarked, as their dads had freed themselves from their respective traps.

"Come on, guys; We gots to get Dil to our secret hiding place." Tommy started pulling on the wagon's cord, along with Phil, Lil, Chuckie, and Shenzi, heading for the bushes.

"Look, they're pulling the Reptar Wagon!" Chaz pointed out.

"Ha! I can pull it faster than you three!" Howard challenged them.

"In your dreams, Deville!" Stu retorted, determined to win the bet. The kids were struggling to pull the wagon, when the adults suddenly took over, surprising them into backing off. "Haha, I got it!" Stu started pulling the wagon, and Howard was about to as well, but Friar Tuck shoved them away and took over.

The toddlers watched as their dads trekked through the yard, becoming more and more exhausted, with Dil in tow. But after a while, they had to stop, and catch their breath, as the baby yawned and fell asleep in the wagon. "I think I'll just rest for a minute," Stu yawned, all 4 of them laying on the grass.

"Time out," Howard yawned.

"Then I'll be... right back on my... feet," Chaz fell back in exhaustion.

"Now's our chance, guys," Tommy turned to his friends, "Let's get 'em!" They lugged the wagon into the bushes, as their dads slept, and realized something.

"Hey, he's asleep," Phil pointed out.

"Hmm, I guess all that testing kinda wored him out," Tommy assumed.

"Aww, isn't he just so cute when he's sleepin'?" Lil cooed.

"He sounds just like a little kitty," Chuckie snickered.

"Tommy, he can't do the somersault while he's sleepin'," Phil shrugged. "Well, he didn't ezzactly do everything the right way, and he did fall asleep in the middle of his itchy-nation," Tommy recalled, "But maybe we can just let him be a big baby anyways. What do you say, guys?" They all agreed to.

"Do you think we should wake him up, and tell him?" Chuckie suggested.

"Nah, let him sleep," Tommy decided, "We'll tell him after his nap."

"Sleep tight, little big baby," Shenzi cooed to Dil.

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 **(A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! You know the disclaimer. The next one will be "Runaway Reptar", in two parts!)**

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